States sue Instagram

Thirty-three states, including California, sued Meta’s Instagram on Oct. 24, claiming the company has “repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms, and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.” The suit seeks financial damages and restitution and an end to Meta’s practices that allegedly violate of the law.

Meta later replied saying, “We share the attorneys generals’ commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families.” 

Assistant Principal Kevin Baker shares a similar dislike of Instagram. “They don’t do enough to combat harassment or respond to requests to take posts down…They seem committed to allowing everything and getting rid of nothing. I think a lot of social media sites should be more closely monitored.”

This is a common sentiment among students as well. “Everybody uses Instagram…It’s just how it works. It’s also great for talking to people you normally wouldn’t and getting info for school stuff,” said junior Gianna Colon. “Without it, I’d never know when the spirit days and [school] events were happening.” 

A study by the Pew Research Center shows that 73% of teens 13 to 17 years old use Instagram. As the app’s popularity grows, so does its user base. It is no longer just a communication resource. Many use it to stay up to date on news, school and work events, and to connect with their community. 

“Instagram has a negative effect on teens and it’s just super hard for teens to compete with artificial intelligence,” said Assistant Principal Steven Hendee. 

Like all social media sites, Instagram has an algorithm that decides the content you see on your feed. By looking at the posts you have interacted with, it then finds others who have interacted with the same posts and what accounts they are interested in. This information is then used to tailor your feed to show things the algorithm thinks you will like. This can easily get out of hand if you are regularly interacting with harmful content. This is one of California’s biggest concerns about Instagram and the way this process is affecting teen’s mental health.  

“We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” said a Meta spokesperson in a recent statement.     

Regardless, California and other states continue to move full steam ahead on the lawsuit, showing no interest in peace talks.