8 Lawsuits Accuse Facebook and Instagram of ‘Exploiting Young People for Profit’
Share
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been hit with eight serious lawsuits accusing its social media algorithm of causing real harm to young users across the United States.
One law firm Beasley Allen, in various states, filed all eight suits and released a statement saying that Meta not only “exploits young people for profit,” but purposefully made its platforms psychologically addictive and failed to protect its users.
Above: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces the plan to make Facebook more private at Facebook’s Developer Conference on April 30, 2019.
The complaints filed over the last week claim Meta’s social media platforms have been designed to be dangerously addictive, driving children and teenagers to view content that increases the risk of eating disorders, suicide, depression, and sleep disorders.
“Social media use among young people should be viewed as a major contributor to the mental health crisis we face in the country,” said Andy Birchfield, an attorney leading the cases, in a statement.
Beasley Allen cites the October 2021 testimony by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, where Haugen discussed how the platform negatively impacts young users, as well as the leaked documents that show how the platform knew it was “toxic” for teenage girls.
In the statement, Birchfield says:
“The defendants knew that their products and related services were dangerous to young and impressionable children and teens, yet they completely disregarded their own information. They implemented sophisticated algorithms designed to encourage frequent access to the platforms and prolonged exposure to harmful content.”
Birchfield went on to say that the people behind these platforms made a decision to “aggressively addict adolescents in the name of corporate profits,” rather than design them to minimize harm. It’s time for Meta to address these growing concerns, he said. The concerns are indeed staggering. The lawsuits state that prolonged platform use has led to mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, as well as self-harm and attempted suicide.
