What to Know About a Lawsuit Targeting Instagram's Addictive Nature

Social media apps are inherently addictive and many log onto them more often than they intend. Though we always have the power to simply use these apps less, they are partly to blame due to being designed to keep users on the app more frequently. However, a 13-year-old girl from New York is challenging the very nature of these apps. 

The girl has now sued the company Meta, owner of Instagram, saying that the app is purposefully keeping teens addicted to Instagram while being fully aware of their exposure to harmful content. Aiming to secure $5 billion in damages, the 13-year-old girl plans for the amount to be shared among eligible Instagram users if the lawsuit is approved as a class action.

Instagram has rules that ban users under 13, yet the teen managed to use the app at the age of 10. In the lawsuit, it states that Meta was highly ineffective at verifying her age and now, three years later, she spends five hours on the app every single day. Additionally, it states that her inability to put her phone away has led to significant mental health issues. 

It was claimed in court that, due to her Instagram usage, the teenager’s grades plummeted, and that she has depression and anxiety. Instagram’s design was to blame, she says, due in part to features such as the display of the number of likes that users receive. She alleges that Meta’s leaders were fully aware of how addictive the app was while choosing to ignore evidence that the mental health of minors could be seriously harmed while using it. 

The suit elaborates on the purported danger of the app:

“This country universally bans minor access to other addictive products, like tobacco and alcohol, because of the physical and psychological damage such products can inflict. Social media is no different, and Meta’s own documents prove that it knows its products harm children.” 

The lawsuit suggests that Instagram does as much damage to the brain as addictive substances do. Liza Crenshaw, Meta spokeswoman, responded by standing firm on the company doing their part to ensure teens have a safe experience on social media. “These are complex issues, but we will continue working with experts and listening to parents to develop new tools, features and policies that are effective and meet the needs of teens and their families,” she said. 

Crenshaw cited Meta’s implementation of parental control features, safety measures for teen accounts, and age verification systems as indications that Meta has taken necessary precautions to mitigate potential harm on minors. 

This is not the only lawsuit filed against Meta for this reason.

In October, Meta was sued by 41 states and D.C., accused of harming children with the app’s addictive features. As with the 13-year-old girl suing the company, this lawsuit also accuses Instagram of causing major mental health problems in children. The lawsuit alleges that young people’s vulnerabilities are being exploited by the app, susceptible to algorithms that are intended to compulsively keep users on the platform as much as possible. What’s more, the infinite scrolling feature does not help minors disengage from the app. 

The lawsuit claims that the app has played a part in body dysmorphia and eating disorders in young people with the use of visual filters. Meta stated in response that the company is committed to providing teens with a safe experience. It says it has introduced 30 tools to support teens and their families. 

Meta signaled it would rather work “productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use,” saying its staff is “disappointed” that the attorneys general have chosen this path instead.