States sue Meta claiming its social platforms are addictive and harm children’s mental health

(24 Oct 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Francisco - 24 October 2023
1. California Attorney General Rob Bonta walks into press conference
HEADLINE: States sue Meta, claiming it harms children
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rob Bonta, California Attorney General:
"We are suing Meta, the umbrella company for Facebook, Instagram and other popular platforms for violating federal and state laws, including the following three laws that we're focusing on: the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, California's unfair competition law, and California's false advertising law."
3. California Attorney General seal on speaker's podium
4. Camera cutaway at press conference
CAPTION: Dozens of U.S. states are suing Meta for allegedly harming children by designing features on Instagram and Facebook that cause addiction.
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rob Bonta, California Attorney General:
"In seeking to bolster profits, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its products. It has concealed the ways in which Instagram and Facebook exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers, teenagers and children. We know, thanks to our investigation, as well as disclosures by former insiders, that the company knows that following: Instagram is harmful to a significant percentage of teenagers, especially teen girls. They have research that found that 13.5% of teen girls on Instagram say the platform makes thoughts of suicide and self-injury worse. That 17% say it makes eating issues worse and 32% say it makes body images image worse. Meta has internal warnings that certain key features can push users into harmful content."
6. "Meta chose profits over protecting children" sign at press conference

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tennessee - 24 October 2023
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee Attorney General:
"Social media and its impact on young people is one of the most important things that I'll work on in my career. Meta is one of the biggest and most powerful companies in the history of the world. They have unfathomable troves of data on their users and others, and they have constantly used the data that they have to refine their products to make them more and more difficult to stop using. They have made, through sophisticated means, Instagram and their other platforms addictive, and they have targeted these platforms at teenagers and at kids. And we all know that teenagers and kids are different. Their brain chemistry is different. They are more vulnerable and more susceptible to this kind of manipulation."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Menlo Park, California - 3 February 2023
8. Various exteriors of Meta headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston - 24 October 2023
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General:
"The company knew exactly how these design decisions could and would hook young people to the point of addiction and yet continue to use them and in many cases rejected using feasible alternatives that they knew would mitigate harm to our young people. They did all of this with profit in mind. Not people. Not young users."

FULLSCREEN META STATEMENT
10. “We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path."
STORYLINE:
The suits seek financial damages and restitution and an end to Meta’s practices that are in violation of the law.
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