The US v. Zuckenberg: How Meta Affects Children’s Mental Health

Report Issue

Please complete the required fields.

Your Name

Email

Reason (required)
This post contains broken linksPost has incorrect informationPost has spamCopyright IssueOther

Description

Submit

The legal crusade against Meta went one step further this week.

The attorneys general of 41 states sued Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, for developing products consciously designed to engage children, even though the company argues that its social media platforms are safe for minors.

This latest move adds to the cascade of lawsuits — 200 of which have been grouped in a class action lawsuit filed in April — that individuals and educational institutions have brought against several social platforms (Facebook and Instagram, as well as Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube) for negatively affecting the mental health of young people.

The coordinated action of these 41 states — 33 of which came together in a single, joint lawsuit — details in over 200 pages the reasons why Instagram (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook) is a harmful product for young people.

In the lawsuit, the attorneys general explain that they are filing the case because the Meta’s “violations present a continuing harm, and the unfair acts and practices complained of here affect the public interest.”

How social media can affect children’s mental health?

A longitudinal cohort study of U.S. adolescents aged 12–15 (n=6,595) that adjusted for baseline mental health status found that adolescents who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes including symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Can social media cause depression in kids?

How does social media cause anxiety and depression? Social media has been shown to be correlated with anxiety and depression. This correlation could have to do with teens connecting more online rather than in person, leaving them feeling socially isolated.

What Social Media Does to the Teen Brain