This week, 32 attorneys general across the U.S. filed suit in federal court against the social media company Meta and its subsidiaries Facebook and Instagram. Another nine attorneys general filed similar lawsuits against the company in state courts, including Vermont. Attorney General Charity Clark, a Democrat, tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley the suit filed in Chittenden Superior Court claims that the company has violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act:
We are suing to hold Meta accountable for the part they have played in our mental health crisis in this country particularly regarding teens. They have designed Instagram to be addictive, to keep teens scrolling. They have also been deceptive when they have messaged about the safety of Instagram and use of Instagram. We are alleging a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. There are two prongs of the Consumer Protection Act and one is unfairness in the marketplace. The other is deception. And we are alleging both of those prongs have been violated.
Why is Vermont filing its own lawsuit rather than being part of this coalition?
We are a part of the coalition in that the 42 states conducted an investigation together in coordination. We chose state court because we believe passionately in this issue and wanted to control the case ourselves.
Not every youth that is using those platforms would end up having their self-esteem lowered or become addicted to the platforms. How do you go about proving that sort of claim?
This platform is designed to be addictive to keep especially young users on the platform so that the platform can earn more advertising revenue, which is how they make their money. And these features, which are designed to be addictive, include things like the excessive push notifications, like counts, view counts, infinite scroll, the algorithm itself, the ephemeral content, like a content that goes away after 24 hours, like Instagram stories, and the auto play video features. These are all features that are designed to keep young users using the product so that Instagram can make money off of them by selling advertising.
When we take a look at the lawsuit that the coalition of the 32 AG’s are filing, Meta’s been collecting youth data without parental consent. Is that also a part of Vermont's lawsuit?
Yes. A lot of work has been done in the investigation and, you know of course, a lot of troubling information was located in the course of the investigation and was folded into this lawsuit. I do believe that Instagram was designed to be addictive. It is harmful to teens. And that is why we filed this lawsuit to hold Meta accountable.
Do you have any specific penalties or restitution that the state is currently seeking on this or is this something that you'll figure out later as the court case moves forward?
We want the harmful behavior to stop. So that's the priority. What that looks like exactly, you're right, we'll have to work out some of the details in the course of the lawsuit. We also are asking for some monetary relief. One is the attorney's fees and the other costs involving the investigation and also the lawsuit, disgorgement of profits. And the Consumer Protection Act allows for up to $10,000 per violation, which is per consumer and we also included that in the complaint. So there are monetary components. But ultimately we want the bad behavior to stop.
Anything else?
In addition to causing compulsive use Instagram poses other serious mental health risks and that is with its content. Instagram exposes young people to content depicting violence, adult sexual activity, hate speech as well as content that promotes eating disorders or suicide. And similar to that content are the harmful experiences like you know, unwanted sexual advances including from strangers and negative social comparison which we know is one of the most common and harmful effects of Instagram use. And, you know Pat, when I asked about this what I learned is that the algorithm is designed to show more of those types of posts, those negative social comparison posts, because they are more likely to engage the user and therefore earn more advertising revenue for Instagram.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire also filed suits against Meta in state court. Meta says it’s disappointed by the legal action and says it shares the attorney generals’ “commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online.”
