Attorney General Rokita is suing social media company Meta for violating consumer protection laws and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
Attorney General Todd Rokita and 41 other attorney generals sued Meta in federal and state courts, with the federal complaint alleging that Meta knew of the harmful impact of its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, on young people.
Instead of taking steps to mitigate these harms, it misled the public about the harms associated with the use of its platform and concealing the extent of the psychological and health harms suffered by young users addicted to the use of its platforms.
The complaint further alleges that Meta knew that young users, including those under 13, were active on the platforms, and knowingly collected data from these users without parental consent.
While much of the complaint relies on confidential material that is not yet available to the public, publicly available sources including those previously released by former Meta employees detail that Meta profited by purposely making its platforms addictive to children and teens and having its platform algorithm push users into descending “rabbit holes” in an effort to maximize engagement.
These choices, the complaint alleges, violate state consumer protection laws and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The federal complaint seeks injunctive and monetary relief to rectify the harms caused by these platforms.
Multiple states have also sued TikTok for similar conduct, following Indiana’s lead.
