US: Court document claims Meta knowingly designed its platforms to hook kids, say reports

November 27, 2023

According to an unsealed legal complaint described in reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew — but never disclosed — it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts.

The complaint, originally made public in redacted form, was the opening salvo in a lawsuit filed in late October by the attorneys general of 33 states of the US.

As per the reports, company documents cited in the complaint described several Meta officials acknowledging the company designed its products to exploit shortcomings in youthful psychology such as impulsive behavior, susceptibility to peer pressure, and the underestimation of risks. Others acknowledged Facebook and Instagram also were popular with children under the age of 13 who, per company policy, were not allowed to use the service.

Meanwhile, Meta told The Associated Press that the complaint misrepresents its work over the past decade to make the online experience safe for teens, noting it has “over 30 tools to support them and their parents.” With respect to barring younger users from the service, Meta said age verification is a “complex industry challenge.”

 

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