Last week a Polk County Circuit Court judge issued a decision letting the State of Arkansas proceed with its lawsuit against social media giant Meta — the company that owns Facebook and Instagram.
In a statement released Thursday, Attorney General Griffin said,
“This is a victory for the citizens of Arkansas, especially our children, whom Meta has misled about the addictive and harmful consequences of using Meta’s platforms. The court’s order makes clear that the State of Arkansas has the right to sue Meta in state court under our state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Silicon Valley has now been served a message that their profits cannot be built on the backs of Arkansas’s youth.
“I thank and congratulate the members of my team who are working on this suit and similar ones across the state, especially Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ford, who argued against Meta’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit in April.”
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed a lawsuit against Meta in Polk County Circuit Court more than a year ago alleging the company has misled the public about the safety and addictiveness of its social media platforms.
The lawsuit argues Facebook structured its platform “to exploit multiple neuropsychological traits in youth.”
It notes that Facebook and Instagram are built around algorithms intentionally designed “to exploit human psychology and foster addiction to maximize users’ screen time.”
The A.G.’s legal complaint says this exploitation is especially true of young users with developing brains.
The lawsuit also says that, “youth mental health problems have advanced in lockstep with the growth of social media platforms that have been deliberately designed to attract and addict youth by amplifying harmful material, dosing users with dopamine hits, and thereby driving youth engagement and advertising revenue.”
The lawsuit goes on to allege that Meta violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by designing and marketing “dangerous social media platforms that have injured the health, comfort, and repose of the State’s community” and fueled the current youth mental health crisis.
The A.G.’s complaint against Meta concludes by asking the court to stop Meta’s actions and award the state up to $10,000 per violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
