A collection of over thirty states including California filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent corporation of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the firm’s social media platforms are indecently profiting from young people and providing them with offensive content. The lawsuit was submitted to a California federal court.

According to the state lawsuit, “Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its goal is profit, and Meta has consistently misled the public about the serious risks associated with its social media platforms in an effort to maximize its financial gains.”

Meta Platforms is dedicated to ensuring the safety of young people online and has launched more than 30 resources to assist them and their families.

An inquiry headed by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont resulted in the extensive federal lawsuit. It comes after scathing newspaper articles that were initially published in the fall of 2021 by The Wall Street Journal. These articles were based on Meta’s own research, which revealed that the business was aware of the negative effects Instagram can have on teens’ mental health and body image, particularly for adolescent girls.

Facebook quibble

In 2021, former Facebook Frances Haugen emerged as a whistleblower with allegations that the company was knowingly preying on vulnerable young people to boost profits. He revealed an internal study at Instagram which found evidence that many adolescent girls using the photo-sharing app were suffering from depression and anxiety around body-image issues.

Haugen’s testimony before Congress has also been referenced in the complaint. The lawsuit also mentions kid-friendly Facebook and Instagram profiles, such as those promoting toys like Hot Wheels and Lego and TV shows like Bluey and PAW Patrol.

Both Facebook and Instagram require users under the age of 13 to obtain parental authorization before they can create an account. However, the lawsuit asserted that Meta gathers personal data about users under the age limit who haven’t given the necessary consent.

Hundreds of lawsuits against Snap, TikTok, and Google allege that these companies should be held liable for the anxiety, despair, eating disorders, and insomnia that young people and teenagers experience as a result of their addiction to social media.

Attorney General of New York Letitia James said in a statement, “Kids and teenagers are suffering from record levels of poor mental health and social media companies like Meta are to blame.”

According to an internal survey, 17% of teenage girls said Instagram exacerbates eating disorders, and 13.5% of teenage girls said it exacerbates suicidal thoughts.
The states’ action claims that Meta intentionally broke the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by gathering child data without notifying the children’s parents or obtaining their consent.

In order to further the goal of prioritizing profits over people, “they’re the worst of the worst when it comes to using technology to addict teenagers to social media.”

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy urged parents, caregivers, and tech corporations to take “immediate action to protect kids now” from the negative effects of social media in May.

Meta defense

The company expressed that it was “disappointed” in the lawsuit and that the states were not collaborating with the various social media platforms to develop standards that were appropriate for the target audience.

It insisted that it has created over thirty options in its apps to assist users who are teenagers and to make it simpler for parents to “shape” their online behavior.

Meta claimed it is dedicated to ensuring the safety of teenagers on the internet and has released over thirty tools to assist young people and their families.

The company released a statement saying, “We’re disappointed that the attorneys general have chosen this path, instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use.”

Attorney General Brian Schwalb of Washington, D.C., declined to comment when asked if they are also considering TikTok or Snapchat. According to him, their current focus is on Facebook and Instagram’s Meta empire.

Given the prominence of competitors like TikTok, YouTube, and Snap, Meta argued that the attorneys general had singled on the company rather than looking for solutions that would benefit the whole industry.

Meta Inception

The parent company of the social network Facebook, the well-known photo and video sharing app Instagram, and the instant messaging applications WhatsApp and Messenger is Meta, or more officially Meta Platforms. It was formerly known as Facebook from 2004 to 21. The “metaverse,” in which people interact in virtual reality settings, is highlighted by the name.

In October 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta in an attempt to improve its reputation after a great deal of criticism around user privacy and the spread of false information, as well as to support the company’s metaverse initiatives. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed confidence that the metaverse will be the “successor of the mobile Internet” during the company’s 2021 Connect conference, where he also revealed the name change. But this hasn’t turned out to be the case.

Facebook Inception

Facebook is a social network service and online social media platform owned by Meta Platforms, an American firm. Four Harvard University students – Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin-founded Facebook in 2004.

Facebook is still having trouble with privacy. When the firm created News Feed in 2006, it became a major problem for the company since it displayed all of the changes that friends of the user had made to their pages. Facebook quickly introduced privacy options that allowed users to manage what information showed up in their News Feed in response to user complaints.

Facebook filed to go public in February of 2012. With the $16 billion it raised from its May IPO, its market value was $102.4 billion. In comparison, Google Inc., a search engine business, raised $1.9 billion when it went public in 2004 and was the largest Internet company to date to go public. By the end of the first trading day, it was believed that Zuckerberg had more than $19 billion in stakes in the stock.

By 2021, Facebook had about three billion users worldwide, with nearly half of them using it daily. This made Facebook the largest social network in the world. Menlo Park, California is home to the company’s headquarters.

How Screen time disables us?

• A state of obesity. An excessive amount of time spent in sedentary activities, including watching TV or playing video games, can increase the risk of obesity. Additionally affected is your heart health, which raises the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
• Issues with sleep. Electronic device light disrupts the brain’s sleep cycle and can make it difficult to get a decent night’s sleep. Avoid using screens in the bedroom for at least an hour before going to bed in order to have a better night’s sleep.

• Persistent back and neck ache. Excessive screen time can cause bad posture,  which can result in persistent  back, shoulder, and neck pain. Instead, take short pauses from sitting to stand, stretch, or go for a stroll. Ensure that your chair offers sufficient back support, and aim to maintain the device at eye level. anxiousness and depression.
• Spending too much time in front of a screen might be detrimental to your emotional and mental health. According to experts, there may be a link between increased screen time and sadness, as well as a rise in suicidal thoughts and actions and a general decline in emotional intelligence.