Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced his office’s participation in a multistate lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta today/Tuesday.
Comparing the social media giant's use of alerts, infinite scrolling and other tools to cocaine, Miyares said Meta was violating both Virginia consumer protection laws and federal privacy laws designed to protect children.
“Meta not only knew these design features were addictive, they designed them purposefully to exploit the known psychological vulnerabilities of young users' brains and introduce them to use meta social media platforms habitually and for prolonged periods of time,” Miyares said.
Virginia will join more than 30 other states in the suit, filed federal court in California. The suits are similar to other so called public nuisance suits which aim to hold large corporations responsible for their impact on society. The largest and most successful example so far is the opioid industry where dozens of suits ended in a billion-dollar settlement with millions going to states like Virginia to combat the drug’s impact.
Miyares compared Meta’s actions to those used by cigarette companies in the 90s.
“Big tobacco was purposefully using Joe camel, which was a cartoon, to try and hook young people into cigarette use. Why?" the AG asked. "Cause If I hook you when you’re young I have a client for at least the next 10 years.”
In similar, previous disputes Meta claimed their actions were protected by the First Amendment.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
