A coalition of state attorneys general are suing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram over the perceived impacts of social media platforms on children’s mental health.
Michigan is among the 33 states that filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. earlier this week in federal court, claiming Meta “profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans” with its social media platforms that “entice, engage and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.”
Among the accusations listed in the 233-page lawsuit are that the social media company has misled the public about the dangers of its social media platforms and ignored the damage they’ve caused to the mental health of its young users.
“In doing so, Meta engaged in, and continues to engage in, deceptive and unlawful conduct in violation of state and federal law,” reads the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said documents made public by former Meta employees show the company put its desire to profit from teens’ engagement on its platforms above that demographic’s physical and mental health.
“I stand firmly with my colleagues in asserting that Meta has misrepresented the addictive nature of social media and has violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, for which it should be held accountable,” Nessel said.
A statement from Nessel’s office said the lawsuit relies on confidential material not yet available to the public. However, documents maid public by former Meta employees detail how Meta profited by purposely making its platforms addictive to children and teens, through features like infinite scroll and near-constant alerts.
“Meta knew these addictive features harmed young people’s physical and mental health, including undermining their ability to get adequate sleep, but did not disclose the harm nor did they make meaningful changes to minimize the harm,” reads the statement. “Instead, they claimed their platforms were safe for young users.”
Elizabeth Eingraham works as the children’s services manager for the Montcalm Care Network, a resource for community mental health services in West Michigan. Asked this week about the lawsuit against Meta and claims about the harms of social media on adolescent mental health, she said it’s important to remember social media itself isn’t evil.
Where the harm lies is in how teens are using the platforms, what they are viewing, and what other mental health risk factors they might have.
“If they’re viewing things that are healthy or communities with like interests, those kinds of things can be positive,” she said. “But when they’re viewing content that’s harmful; when they have other risk factors like they’re struggling with mental health already, they can experience discrimination, body shaming, all those kinds of things that can happen because it’s what they’re viewing and with a lack of guidance.”
Eingraham encourages parents to be aware of what their kids are viewing and how they’re using technology and social media. She said it’s important to monitor, supervise, and educate on the harmful aspects of these platforms, and to keep up with the ever-evolving media platforms.
“Technology is one step ahead of parents every time,” she said. “And it’s not going away; it’s just going to continue to change and evolve and the youth in this generation, they’ve grown up with it.”