Meta Faces Lawsuits from American States
This is a new XXL complaint that attacks Meta in justice. Mark Zuckerberg’s group, which controls Facebook and Instagram, has actually been sued by forty American states since Tuesday, October 24, 2023. The latter accuse her of harming the “mental and physical health of American youth.”
Meta Would Manipulate the Youth
Specifically, the tech giant would “conceal the way these platforms exploit and manipulate their most vulnerable consumers” and “ignore the significant harm” caused to the “mental and physical health of young people in our country,” prosecutors said in these Democratic and Republican lawsuits. states. A rare consensus that deserves to be highlighted in the highly polarized context of American political life. The complaint also accuses Meta of knowingly manipulating the harm caused to these young users. And to better deceive the public, the company also allegedly lied by claiming that its platforms were safe and suitable for teenagers. Therefore, these states are asking the company to cease its operations and also to pay fines.
Meta Responds to the Lawsuits
Meta did not fail to respond through a representative quoted by our colleagues in Le Monde. The group says it is “disappointed that attorneys general have chosen this path rather than working productively with industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps used by teens.” We share the Attorney General’s commitment to ensuring teens have a safe and positive online experience, and we have already implemented more than 30 tools to support teens and their families.” It remains to be seen what the outcome of this complaint will be, but they are generally long term in nature and we should not expect anything to happen in the short term.
Previous Criticisms of Meta
Let us remember that this is not the first time that Mark Zuckerberg’s company has been criticized on this issue. In 2021, we talked to you specifically about the Facebook files, that giant internal data leak exposed by whistleblower and former employee Frances Haugen. In particular, they discussed a report from the group’s researchers who concluded that Instagram has a negative impact on the well-being of teenagers. Thus, every fifth young person believes that the social network “night in son Self-esteem.” Specifically, 30% of British teenage girls say they feel “better” or “much better when using an app”, 23% say connecting to the platform makes them feel “a little worse”, and 2% “really, really bad.” Thus, scientists suggested emphasizing star profiles less and giving preference photos friends, while downgrading publications dedicated to fashion and beauty. According to Frances Haugen’s documents, these decisions were not followed by the leaders.