Louisiana is among the thirty-three states suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for allegedly using addictive features to hook and exploit children.
“We’re seeing a dramatic increase in mental health problems with kids, suicides that are really kind of emanating from their addiction to these cellphones and these apps and the content that is being driven to them,” said Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill.
Murrill says they are seeking financial damages from Meta and restitution to end such practices against children.
“We are going to ask these companies to start restricting the way that they deliver content to kids and to pay for some of the damage they’ve caused knowingly to the mental health of our children,” said Murrill.
Murrill says notifications from the apps are a dopamine hit to the brain for children and she compares the damage they are causing to the current opioid crisis.
“It is creating addiction in our kids. If you think about it in terms of whether these companies were throwing opioids all day long and sometimes all night long at your child that’s exactly what this is,” said Murrill.
Meta issued a statement that it shares the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe and positive experiences online.
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