Accusations that online services such as Facebook and Instagram are damaging the psychological development of young users have been around for a long time. Now US states are building a lawsuit against the parent company Meta.
Dozens of US states are taking the Facebook company Meta to court, alleging that its online services harm children and young people. Meta ignores the negative consequences of Facebook and Instagram in order to make more profits, according to the lawsuit filed yesterday in California.
Meta said she was disappointed that state attorneys general had taken the lawsuit route instead of working on industry-wide standards for apps used by teens. Since the beginning of the investigation, it has been shown how Meta is working to support young users on the platforms, the company countered. According to the Wall Street Journal, talks about a settlement failed before the lawsuit.
Use disrupts learning behavior and sleep
Among other things, the states accuse Meta of the fact that the platforms’ business model is aimed at ensuring that children and young people spend more time on the platform. Meta was aware that young users were easier to influence: the states denounce, among other things, the “Like” functions and the notifications that repeatedly lure them to the screens. However, Meta falsely claims that the children and young people are not being manipulated.
The use of the platforms disrupts learning behavior and sleep – and the services promote problems such as eating disorders, according to the lawsuit, which is more than 200 pages long. The plaintiff states also claim that Meta knows that functions of the online platforms are harmful and addictive. The allegations are based on revelations by whistleblower Frances Haugen from 2021.
Dispute over age verification
Other allegations include that Meta allows users under the age of 13 to access the services without explicit parental permission. This is prohibited by law in the USA – but attempts to enforce actual age verification have always failed in the Supreme Court. That’s why online services simply ask when registering whether a user has reached the age of 13.
At the same time, procedures have been developed in the industry to identify younger users. This includes, for example, the analysis of typing behavior. In response to the lawsuit, Meta also referred to its own age verification technologies. The company also mentioned a survey according to which other online services such as TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat were at least as popular. Psychologists also believe that online media can play a positive role in the development of young people.
Source: Stern
