BALTIMORE — Maryland is suing social media.
They're one of 42 total states making the move against Meta, claiming apps like Facebook and Instagram are intentionally made to be addicting to children and teenagers.
At a press conference, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown stated Meta’s business practice violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act citing an investigation from 2021. The complaint alleges Meta collects data from users under 13 without parental consent.
The platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, use algorithms that are addicting to children and teens pushing users down quote "rabbit holes."
RELATED: Maryland schools file lawsuit blaming social media for youth mental health crisis
"Features like infinite scroll and near constant alerts were created with the express goal of hooking young users continuously learning them back online and causing long term psychological harm,” said Brown.
"The stress that came with maintaining my social media started effecting me mentally. I was getting constant anxiety from always wondering if I was saying the right thing or keeping up with the trends,” said Ari Cannizzaro, an eighth grader at Hampstead Hill Academy. “I would get depressed when I found that no one responded to my messages as it made me feel really alone and that no one cared enough about me to respond.”
The Attorney General alleges Meta knew the features harmed young people's mental health, including loss of adequate sleep but did not disclose the dangers or attempt to mitigate them.
The lawsuit is being filed in the Federal Court of California by 33 states. Eight other Attorney Generals are filing in their own state courts, and Florida is filing their own lawsuit in Federal Court.
In response to the lawsuit, Meta said it shares “the Attorney General’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families.”
The company added, “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 Attorney Generals have chosen this path."
