Meta, Instagram Being Sued For 'Triggering' Mental Health Crisis In Kids

The suit further added that Meta knowingly enticed young children and teenagers into addictive social media use.

There have been a string of lawsuits and actions against social media companies on behalf of children and teens.

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Social networking giant Meta and Instagram are being sued in the US as several states are accusing the platforms of triggering a mental health crisis among the youth through their addictive nature, the media has reported. According to a suite filed in a federal court in Oakland, in the US state of California, 33 states including California and Illinois said that the social media giant, which also the parent of Facebook, has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its platforms. The suit further added that Meta knowingly enticed young children and teenagers into addictive social media use, news agency Reuters has reported.

The Facebook parent is liklely to face civil penalties ranging between $1,000-$50,000 for each violation, which could increase rapidly on account of millions of young users the platform has. The suit seeks a variety of remedies, including substantial civil penalties. However, Meta said that it had sought to make young people safe online.  

"Research has shown that young people's use of Meta's social media platforms is associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes," the complaint added, as per the report.

According to the suit, Meta is said to have ensured that the youth spends as much time as possible on social media despite knowing that teenage brains are susceptible to the need for approval in the form of "likes" from other users about their content.

However, it is not new and there have been a string of lawsuits and actions against social media companies on behalf of children and teens. To recall, China's ByteDance-owned TikTok and Google-owned YouTube have also been at the centre of hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of kids and school districts about the addictiveness of social media.  

"Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens," the complaint said. "Its motive is profit."

This comes amid the company's attempt to introduce a new paid service that would let Facebook and Instagram users pay for a verified account. The paid Meta Verified programme costs $11.99 on the web and $14.99 for the app, as it gives people a new way to try and appear more prominently in an Instagram feed.