Amidst this scandal, dozens of U.S. states, including California, Ohio, Louisiana, Virginia and New York, are taking legal action against Meta Platforms Inc.
The allegations focus on the company’s purported contribution to the youth mental health crisis by designing features on Instagram and Facebook explicitly intended to addict children to their platforms.
In response to these accusations, Meta released a statement asserting that the legal complaint misrepresents the company’s decade-long effort to create a safe online environment for teenagers.
The tech giant further denied intentionally designing its products to be addictive for younger users. However, Meta has yet to provide a comment on the unredacted complaint following a request from The Associated Press.
The unsealed documents cite that company insiders developed a deliberate strategy to exploit vulnerabilities in youthful psychology. And took advantage of children’s impulsive behavior, susceptibility to peer pressure, and a tendency to underestimate risks.
