SIGNS: Meta Faces Lawsuits From 41 States Alleging Facebook + Instagram Are Addictive

A large chunk of the United States has seemingly joined forces to fight against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram—an addiction plaguing Americans.

According to a report from The Washington Post, 41 states and Washington D.C. are suing Meta, alleging the company’s brands have “addictive” features integrated into them that cause harm to younger children navigating the apps. A number of lawsuits have actually been levied against Meta following a 2021 investigation that claims the tech company “contributes to mental health issues among young people.”

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More specifically, a 233-page document outlines the issues present in the lawsuit, which alleges Meta is actively engaged in “scheme to exploit young users for profit.” The federal complaint claims Meta is misleading users about their experiences on the app as they relate to safety features, how their personal data is harvested and more.

Another major prong of the lawsuit deals with what the complaint alleges is violation of federal laws regarding children’s privacy. Apparently, state officials are claiming that Meta “knowingly” enacted changes to the platform that were designed to keep children active on the site—even though it was to their “detriment” and purportedly violated consumer protection laws.

And while the lawsuit itself is fairly eyebrow raising, it’s even more shocking that this suit is one of the few Bi-Partisan efforts booth Democratic and Republican politicians actually agree on. This is certainly a moment worthy of one of those Paul Rudd “Look at us” Hot One’s memes.

Anyways, BRB, gotta go check my Facebook notifications quickly.