Dozens of states are accusing Facebook and Instagram parent Meta of designing addictive features that harm kids.
Washington, D.C. — Sept. 13: Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., leaves a Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum held in the Kennedy Caucus Room on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Washington, DC.
While the exact scope of the legal claims may vary, they are expected to paint a similar picture: the company has hooked kids onto its platforms using harmful and manipulative tactics.The complaints underscore the groundswell of concern among government leaders that major social networks risk the well-being of their younger users by designing their products in ways that optimize for engagement over safety.
In launching their probe in 2021, state enforcers said the company “failed to protect young people on its platforms” and accused it “exploiting children in the interest of profit.”The tech giant rebuked the investigation at the time, with Meta spokesman Andy Stone saying the allegations were “false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the facts.”
For years, Meta has worried about young people spending less time on Facebook, while teens flock to competitors including TikTok and Snapchat. To attract younger users, the company has created new features from its family-friendly programming on video calling devices, Portal, to an attempt to replicate TikTok with its short-form video service, Reels.
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