Facebook and Instagram's owner Meta Inc being sued for harming children in 41 US states

euronews (in English)

American lawyers claim social media platforms use addictive algorithms to hook young people on potentially harmful content, putting profits before the mental welfare of children. Meta claims it has introduced 30 tools designed to safeguard young people online.

Transcript

00:00 It's built its huge fortune through friends and likes, but now Meta Inc., the parent company

00:07 of Facebook and Instagram, is facing dozens of legal foes across the U.S. who say it fuels

00:12 self-hatred.

00:13 It's accused of collecting children's data without parental consent.

00:17 Attorney generals in nine states are also taking action.

00:22 We know, thanks to our investigation, as well as disclosures by former insiders, that the

00:27 company knows the following.

00:30 Instagram is harmful to a significant percentage of teenagers, especially teen girls.

00:36 They have research that found that 13.5 percent of teen girls on Instagram say the platform

00:42 makes thoughts of suicide and self-injury worse.

00:49 That's 17 percent say it makes eating issues worse, and 32 percent say it makes body images

00:55 -- image worse.

00:57 Meta Inc. issued a statement defending itself and saying it's introduced 30 online tools

01:02 designed to protect young people.

01:04 The lawyers targeting Meta want financial compensation for victims and an end to what

01:08 are described as the company's harmful practices.

01:11 [WHOOSH]

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