A barrage of complaints about Aim inside United States of America. As many as 41 states and the District of Columbia sued the tech giant this Tuesday, accusing it of using manipulation tactics. Facebook And instagram To produce dependence between kidsthat will harm you sanity.
A total of 33 states filed a joint lawsuit in federal court in California, while other states filed suit separately. Prosecutors claim Meta designed algorithms with the intent to deceive users, even if it means violating federal laws regarding the protection of minors.
“Meta leveraged powerful and unprecedented technologies to attract, engage, and ultimately ensnare teens and adolescents,” the joint indictment states. The “mobile phone” of the digital empire led by Mark ZuckerbergThey say there will be “profit”.
“Anxiety and depression”
These multiple legal actions respond to an investigation launched in 2021 following an investigation by ‘The Wall Street Journal’. social networks will have a significant psychological impact among adolescent users. Internal documents leaked Frances HaugenA former Facebook engineer, he later revealed that Instagram would produce “increasing levels” of anxiety And depression“Among the girls.
This concern has led to more and more states promoting legal measures to guarantee the digital safety of minors. Following the launch of this investigation, authorities directly accused Meta of “exploiting children for profit.” However, attempts at the federal level did not succeed. Federal Trade Commission United States of America He proposed a plan that would ban Meta from monetizing the data it collects from young users.
“It’s unusual for so many states to come together to sue a tech giant that harms consumers,” the New York Times said, comparing the states’ coordinated attack on Meta to other legal cases such as complaints against large companies. pharmaceutical or tobacco industry.
The tech company, the world’s seventh most valuable company, was “disappointed” by the US attorney general’s decision and claimed it had introduced more than 30 new tools to support teenagers in recent years. The scandal, which emerged in 2021, forced the company to halt the development of a version of Instagram targeting users under 13 years of age.