Tennessee sues Meta
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Tennessee was one of dozens of states that sued Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram, on Tuesday and accused the tech giant of knowingly designing features that pose psychological risks to children and teen users.
Why it matters: The lawsuits are the latest in a slew of litigation against Big Tech companies that seek redress for perceived negative impact on children and teens' mental health.
Details: A coalition of state attorneys general filed suit en masse. Many came together for a joint federal suit.
- Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and others filed separate complaints in state courts.
Zoom in: Tennessee's complaint accuses Meta of "designing Instagram to be an addiction machine targeted at people under eighteen."
- The complaint describes Instagram as "a bottomless pit where users can spend an infinite amount of their time. And Meta profits from each additional second a user spends on the platform."
- The complaint alleges that Meta knew Instagram could have a harmful effect on young people, including increased levels of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
What he's saying: "Rather than take steps to reduce or disclose the harm, Meta leaned further in to its profit-maximizing approach that hurts kids," Skrmetti said in a statement.
- "Meta knows every last design decision that made Instagram addictive to kids and that means it knows exactly how to fix the problem. We're suing to make the company fix the problem."
Catch up quick: A bipartisan group of state attorneys general began investigating the issue two years ago, shortly after a company whistleblower leaked a slew of internal files.
- The leaks included an internal presentation from Meta, then called Facebook, from the year prior that suggested the company knew Instagram was toxic for teen girls.
The other side: A spokesperson for Meta told Axios that the company has already introduced several new tools, like parental supervision settings and reminders for teens to take online breaks, to improve its sites for young users.
- The company also said it would like to see industry-wide guidelines for all social media platforms.
- "We're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path," the company said in a statement.