Teen’s family sues Meta for $5 billion over Instagram features that are ‘addictive’

The family of a New York teenager is suing Instagram and parent company Meta for intentionally creating products that are addictive to children.

In a class action complaint filed in California on Monday, lawyers acting on behalf of a 13-year-old girl identified only by name as “AA” accused the social media giant of using compulsive design to get minors to scroll despite knowing it could be harmful to their mental health.

The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion in damages for the millions of children who use Instagram every day in the U.S. It also asks the court to prohibit Instagram from offering many of its key features to children under 18.

The company has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court, but is expected to file an appeal. A Meta spokesperson provided only a boilerplate statement the company has used in response to other similar lawsuits, saying its apps include many tools and features designed to keep teens safe.

The case cites numerous internal documents made public by Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021, which show the company repeatedly denied internal evidence that Instagram could harm young users.

“This country universally prohibits young children from accessing other addictive products, such as tobacco and alcohol, because of the physical and psychological harm such products can cause. Social media is no exception, and Meta’s own documents prove that it knows its products are harmful,” the lawsuit says.

“Nevertheless, Meta has done nothing to improve its social media products or limit their access to young users. In fact, a child can sign up for Meta’s harmful products within minutes, without any guidance or consent from a parent or guardian…

“Meta’s conduct has harmed (the) plaintiff and (other children) and will continue to harm them unless and until it is stopped.”

‘Overwhelmed by fear’

According to Monday’s lawsuit, “AA” is a 13-year-old New Yorker who started using Instagram at age 10 and now spends about five hours a day on the popular photo-sharing app, including up to an hour before bed. The lawsuit alleges that Meta has done little to verify her age, despite Instagram’s policies barring users under the age of 13.

As a result, the lawsuit alleges, she “cannot put her phone down” and “constantly checks Instagram while doing her homework,” causing her to stay up late and rush through her tasks.

She also claims that she gets “overwhelmed with anxiety” when she doesn’t check her notifications and that she “feels like her friends are constantly ignoring her” when they don’t like or comment on her posts.

The complaint cites internal documents showing that Meta made recruiting more teens to its services one of its top priorities, as it sought to offset the declining popularity of its flagship app, Facebook, and the gradual aging of its original user base.

To achieve that goal, the complaint alleges, Meta repeatedly denied internal and external reports that its apps had a negative impact on young users in particular, for example by encouraging them to constantly compare themselves to others.

One feature that was criticized was Instagram’s algorithmically sorted, endlessly scrolling news feed, which acts like a slot machine, tempting users to constantly refresh the feed in the hope of an unpredictable reward.

Additionally, external and internal research has shown that Instagram’s automated recommendation system amplifies users’ most negative impulses, for example by preying on their interest in content about eating disorders and promoting more of the same.

Internal research also found that these automated systems favored so-called “negative appearance comparison” or NAC content, which made users feel jealous or bad about themselves. Furthermore, this content was found to be harmful to the well-being of teens.

Other internal investigations and reports raised concerns about the frequency of notifications, the psychological impact of displaying the number of likes a post had received, and AI filters designed to make users look like they’ve had plastic surgery.

Meanwhile, Meta knew full well that an estimated 4 million people under the age of 13 in the US were using Meta’s services in violation of the rules, and that Meta’s age verification systems presented few barriers to underage users.

Nevertheless, the lawsuit alleges that Meta has repeatedly denied these concerns and repeatedly turned down opportunities to fix or improve known problems, often at the personal request of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“Rather than warning parents and young users about the dangers of Instagram, Meta has done everything it can to attract more young users and spend more time on its platform,” the lawyers argue.

“By misrepresenting (several) types of information to young users, parents, Congress, and other members of the public, Meta has misled the public about the qualities, nature, and effects of Instagram in a feeble attempt to conceal the significant harm it causes.”

The case is still ongoing.