SEATTLE, Wash. — Attorney General Ferguson issued a statement regarding a federal lawsuit against Meta for knowingly harming youth mental health.
Meta has recently agreed to unseal information revealing specific details of Meta’s unlawful conduct.
Bob Ferguson is suing Meta in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as part of a bipartisan coalition of 42 state attorney generals. The lawsuit, filed by 33 states, accuses Meta of putting profits before the well-being of millions of children and teens by intentionally targeting them with harmful features.
“The evidence is clear — Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s top executives knew and disregarded the extensive risks that addictive features on Instagram and Facebook posed to children,” Ferguson said. “They ignored repeated warnings from their employees and researchers, and exploited harmful features to maximize profit. My office will continue doing everything we can to protect the mental health of Washington youth.”
From unsealed files, it showed that:
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ignored internal documents on “21 independent experts around the world” who found that filters with cosmetic surgery effects “can have severe impacts on both the individuals using the effects and those viewing the images.”Instagram’s head of public policy wrote to Zuckerberg that outside experts were “nearly unanimous on the harm here.” Zuckerberg canceled a meeting to discuss these issues, then subsequently vetoed a proposal to ban the filters.Internal emails show that Meta disregarded well documented research on the psychological harm to youth when they are inundated with notifications.Internal documents and emails between top executives show that Meta has long known its frequency of notifications are problematic, but continued the practice to maximize engagement.Meta executives repeatedly ignored or declined requests to fund proposed well-being initiatives and strategies that were intended to reduce harmful features on Instagram and Facebook.
To view the full lawsuit, use this link.
