Last week, eight lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri against Facebook’s parent company Meta, accusing it of harming young users in the United States with its social media algorithms.
Meta has been accused of designing its social media platforms to be dangerously addictive and encourage children and young people to watch content that increases the risk of eating disorders, suicide, depression and sleep disorders.
“Social media use among young people should be viewed as a major contributor to the mental health crisis we face in the country. These applications could have been designed to minimize any potential harm, but instead a decision was made to aggressively addict adolescents in the name of corporate profits. It’s time for this company to acknowledge the growing concerns around the impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of this most vulnerable portion of our society and alter the algorithms and business objectives that have caused so much damage,” Andy Birchfield, a lawyer representing the Beasley Allen Law Firm that is leading the cases, said in a statement.
Since an internal report by whistleblower Frances Haugen was leaked several months ago, Meta has faced various allegations.