Meta, formerly Facebook, is under fresh legal scrutiny from a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general who will be investigating whether Instagram violated consumer protection laws and intentionally put young users at risk.
At least 17 states have announced they are joining the effort including California, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia.
The investigation is based on whistleblower reports suggesting Meta was aware that Instagram was associated with greater risks of mental health problems in young users, including depression, eating disorders and suicidality, but ignored its own internal research. Meta has denied its properties are harmful to teens.
The endgame of the investigation is not entirely clear, though state leaders have indicated they would bring penalties against the social media giant, if warranted. The offices contacted for this story were unable to provide additional details.
In an interview with CNN Friday, California AG Rob Bonta said states were prepared to take further action against Instagram and Meta if they find the company failed to protect the health, safety and welfare of underage users. Bonta said AGs would demand "accountability for any actions that were taken in the past that did not meet that standard."
Bonta said he would be seeking additional information from Meta as the investigation continues. Several of the states involved in the investigation received the trove of documents from whistleblower Frances Haugen. The documents were also submitted to Congress and filed with the Securities Exchange Commission alleging Facebook, misled the public, Congress and investors.
States have strong consumer protection authorities that can rival the federal government, in some cases. They could potentially use those tools to impose significant consequences on Meta and its properties, explained Neil Richards, a privacy law expert and director of the Cordell Institute at Washington University in St. Louis.
"You have a company that is alleged to have a product, in this case, Instagram, which is causing significant emotional harm. And the company is alleged to have a callous indifference toward the mental health of their customers, in this case, teenagers," Richards said.
He continued, "I think what we can expect would be investigations, possibly hearings, subpoenas to Facebook/Meta to provide evidence and documentation. But possibly also prosecution under state consumer protection laws, including laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices."
Such charges would not be new for Facebook, which was dinged multiple times for deceptive privacy practices by the Federal Trade Commission and fined $5 billion in 2019 related to Cambridge Analytica. The company is also the subject of ongoing state and federal antitrust lawsuits.
In a slew of separate press releases, state attorneys general said they intended to focus their probe on Instagram's efforts to use algorithms and other tactics to essentially get children hooked on the platform. The AGs said they would probe the tactics used to attract young users and keep them engaged for as long as possible, as well as the harms that result from extended engagement.
"When social media platforms treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer screen time engagement and data extraction, it becomes imperative for state attorneys general to engage our investigative authority under our consumer protection laws," said Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson.
Other states blasted Instagram and Meta for allegedly putting profits above public safety. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey accused Instagram of "exploiting" children and warned, "Meta can no longer ignore the threat that social media can pose to children for the benefit of their bottom line."
In response to the announcement, a Meta spokesperson said the accusations brought by the states were "false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the facts."
The spokesperson reiterated the company's position that risks to young people are a challenge for the entire social media industry. Facebook previously denied allegations that it harms young users, saying it had put in place safeguards to nudge users to more positive content and introduced stronger parental controls.
According to Elizabeth Renieris, founding director of the Notre Dame IBM Technology Ethics Lab, states could have an uphill battle proving Meta knowingly harmed consumers, unless the investigation yields evidence the company misled users or violated its own terms or public statements.
Even then, if the real concern is about the negative effects of social media on teens, states may be narrowing their sites. "Zooming in on Meta and Facebook has some value but I don't think it really addresses the issue of the safety of young people online," Renieris noted.
"If the concern is about engagement and addiction or algorithms optimized for those things, then, to me, the real important intervention is setting rules of the road for what companies can and can't do ... across all these platforms, not just the ones that are politically popular to attack right now," she added, noting that would require federal action by Congress.
Meta has openly acknowledged it is losing younger users to platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, which have been even less transparent about children's privacy and wellbeing. The move of younger users away from Meta properties prompted the company to attempt to launch a version of Instagram for children under 13. Instagram announced it was pausing the rollout of the platform temporarily after the release of whistleblower reports and mounting pressure from 44 state attorneys general and Congress.