The judicial ordeal in Meta rose a new step this Tuesday. The attorneys general of 41 states sued Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger, for developing products consciously designed to engage children, despite the company declaring that its social networks are safe for minors. This process adds to a cascade of lawsuits, two hundred of them grouped in a class action lawsuit, filed in April by individuals and educational institutions in the country against several social networks (Facebook and Instagram, from Meta, but also Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube). for affecting the mental health of young people.
The coordinated action of these 41 States, 33 of them grouped in a single joint lawsuit, details over more than 200 pages the reasons why Instagram (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook) is a harmful product for young people. In the text, the attorneys general explain that they are filing the lawsuit “in defense of the public interest and to avoid and impede adverse effects of the company’s practices in their States.”
“Meta has taken advantage of children’s pain by intentionally designing their platforms with features that manipulate them and keep them addicted to their platforms, while lowering their self-esteem,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Tuesday. an appearance after filing the joint complaint. “Social media, including Meta, has contributed to a youth mental health crisis and must be held accountable,” she said. Nearly a third of American teenage girls had suicidal thoughts in 2021, up 60% from the previous decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Just as tobacco companies or vaping machines have done in the past, Meta chose to maximize their benefits at the expense of public health, specifically harming the youngest,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Wieser said in a statement. .
A Meta spokesperson regretted that “this path” (the judicial one) has been chosen instead of “working productively with the industry to create usage standards for minors’ apps.” In the company there is also discomfort due to the fact that the lawsuit filed this week focuses only on them and leaves the rest of the social networks aside.
The blow that Meta has received this week has not come without prior warning. The origin of this process dates back to early 2021, when the company made public that it planned to create Instagram Kids, a version of its popular social network aimed at children under 13 years of age. The announcement caused a stir in the United States. Several civil associations protested publicly and a group of 44 attorneys general sent an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerbergin which they asked him to reconsider the idea.
In September of that same year, Frances Haugen’s leaks gave reasons to those who were suspicious of Meta. The former Facebook employee revealed to The Wall Street Journal internal documents that showed that company executives knew of the harmful effects that Instagram had on young people, particularly teenage girls. Despite the fact that its own reports said that Instagram caused eating disorders and had even led some users to suicide, the social network’s senior officials did nothing to reverse the situation.
The forcefulness of this data led three states to open a formal investigation in November to study the potential negative impact of Instagram among young people. Haugen’s revelations also led dozens of parents to file their own lawsuits against Meta, alleging that it had affected the health or even physical integrity of their children, a process that culminated in April of this year with the class action lawsuit to which several educational institutions were added. “Our case does not only focus on the content of the platforms: we refer to the very design of social networks, which are designed to be addictive,” Joseph VanZandt, the lawyer coordinating the class action lawsuit, explained to EL PAÍS. This Friday, a hearing is scheduled to be held in the Northern District of California that could be decisive in this other process.
In 2022, given the emergence of TikTok, the social network with the greatest growth among young people, a group of attorneys general from more than 40 states initiated another separate investigation into the potential harmful effects among young people of the platform of Chinese origin. They have not yet presented their conclusions.
In recent years, countries like the United Kingdom or states like California or Utah have approved regulations that require more privacy and security for children from social networks. In the case of Utah, its use is restricted at night. In London, Instagram and Pinterest were accused last year of having caused the death of a teenager who committed suicide after long exposure to those platforms.
Strategy change
The lawsuits filed by 41 states against Meta reflect a change in strategy regarding the class-action, or joint demand, from educational institutions and individuals. “If the latter emphasized that social networks negatively affect the mental health of young people, the lawsuit filed this week alludes to local trade and consumer laws, as well as federal laws for the protection of privacy and personal data. of the minor,” reflects Rodrigo Cetina, professor of Law at the Barcelona School of Management, the business school of the Pompeu Fabra University, and an expert in American law.
Although the document describes that the products (social networks) can manipulate people and that they are addictive by design, the argument put forward is that this is not compatible with commercial laws. “The large fines imposed in the United States for attacking privacy are not so much based on privacy as a fundamental right, but rather as violating the right to consumer protection,” Cetina illustrates.
The change of course is not coincidental. In May of this year, with the collective lawsuit by educational institutions already filed, two key rulings were released that exempted the platforms from responsibility for the content that circulates through them. That led attorneys general to move the focus from something intangible, such as the effects that a social network can have on the mind, to something more tangible: the fact that the company deceived children and parents by telling them that it would not have effects on them and that their data is protected.
In the same way, the focus has been placed on a single company, Meta, presumably because it will be the one with the most solid incriminating evidence or information, to which Frances Haugen decisively contributed. Cetina ventures a second compelling reason: “The parts of the writing [que figuran] covered, which are confidential, suggest that the plaintiffs have had the help of a protected witness with information about the case that could compromise Meta.” That is, there may be a new Haugen.
Problematic aspects
The lawsuit points out several points that make Instagram and Facebook social networks that break the law and are dangerous for children. These are the main ones:
Consumer deception. The central argument is based on deception of the consumer, “disregard for the well-being” of the consumer and the “physical and mental health of the underage user”, as well as the “intentional and knowing violation of consumer protection laws”. consumer and protection of the privacy of minors.” Meta, the text of the lawsuit says, has misled the public about the substantial dangers of social networks and has chosen to ignore the harm they cause to the mental and physical health of youth.
Business model. Meta has created a business model for Facebook and Instagram designed to maximize the time that young people invest in these services and the attention they dedicate to the platforms. “Has designed and disseminated a product with harmful characteristics that psychologically manipulate minors in order for their use of the platforms to be extended over time and compulsive, when, at the same time, they have publicly stated that said characteristics (or benefits) are safe and appropriate for minors.”
Causes addiction. To comply with this business model, Meta has implemented functions that include “the scroll infinite, ephemeral content, auto-play, quantification and visualization of ‘Likes’ and disruptive alerts, all used unfairly and/or unconscionably to extract additional time and attention from young users whose developing brains were not prepared to resist these manipulative tactics,” the lawsuit reads. “Meta unfairly and/or unconscionably exploited the psychological vulnerabilities of young users and cultivated a sense of ‘fear of missing out’ in order to induce young users to spend more time than they would otherwise choose on the platforms. of their social media.”
Slot machine effect. “Meta algorithmically offered content to young users, according to ‘variable reinforcement schedules,’ thereby manipulating dopamine release in young users, unfairly or unfairly inducing them to repeatedly use their products, like a player on a slot machine. ”says the writing.
Persistence. Despite its own investigations, analysis by independent experts and public data, “Meta does not want to abandon the features of its services that are harmful and has made efforts to falsify, hide and minimize the impact of its products on mental health. and physics of young people.”
Personal information. Another key to the process has to do with privacy. “Meta collected personal information from Instagram and Facebook users under the age of 13 without first obtaining verifiable parental consent,” which violated US regulations. This collection was done “illegally and without parental consent.” Meta “refuses to limit the collection and use of personal data even though the law prohibits it from doing so,” and “has done nothing to obtain parental consent to collect and monetize the personal data of minors.”
Model expansion. Finally, the company is accused of “expanding the use of these illegal and harmful practices to other products and platforms.” WhatsApp, Messenger and the metaverse are mentioned.
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