A two-party coalition of U.S. state Attorneys General has disclosed that it have opened a probe into Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms (FB.O), for promoting its subsidiary, Instagram to children despite potential harms.
The investigation, involving at least nine states, comes at a time when Facebook is under scrutiny over its approach to children and young adults. In a statement, the attorneys general noted that they are investigating whether the company violated consumer protection laws and put young people at risk.
Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey in a news release said: “Facebook, now Meta, has failed to protect young people on its platforms and instead chose to ignore or, in some cases, double down on known manipulations that pose a real threat to physical and mental health – exploiting children in the interest of profit”.
Further touching on the issue, Attorney General Maura Healey, took to Twitter and tweeted: “Facebook, or Meta, has known Instagram is linked to depression, eating disorders & suicide among young people. We will identify if any laws were broken and end the abuse for good”.
That notwithstanding, Nebraska Attorney General, Doug Peterson posited that the companies “treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer screen time engagement and data extraction”.
New York Attorney General, Letitia James, adding her voice to the issue noted that these social media platforms are extremely dangerous and have been proven to cause both physical and mental harm in young people.
However, a Meta spokesperson responding to the various statements made by the attorneys general said “these accusations are false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the facts”.
The spokesperson also denied that their platforms are unhealthy.
“While challenges in protecting young people online impact the entire industry, we’ve led the industry in combating bullying and supporting people struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-injury, and eating disorders”.
Meta spokesperson
According to the spokesperson, the company is continuing to develop parental supervision controls and exploring ways to provide age-appropriate experiences for teens by default.
Instagram, like other social media sites, has rules against children under 13 joining the platform but it said it knows it has users of this age.
In September, the company said it was pausing its plans for a version of Instagram for kids, amid growing opposition to the project.
The move followed a Wall Street Journal report that said internal documents, leaked by a former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, showed the company knew Instagram could have harmful mental health effects on teenage girls. Facebook disclosed the leaked documents have been used to paint a false picture of the company’s work.
In previous months, a group of more than 40 state attorneys wrote to the company asking it to abandon plans for the kids-focused app and lawmakers raised concerns.
States involved in the investigation include Nebraska, Massachusetts, California, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vermont, New York, and New Jersey.
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