Family of teen sues Meta for $5bn saying Instagram’s features are ‘addictive’

The family of a New York teenager has sued Instagram and its parent company Meta for intentionally creating products that are addictive to children.

In a class action complaint filed in California on Monday, lawyers acting on behalf of 13-year-old girl named only as "AA" accused the social media giant of using compulsive design to keep minors scrolling despite knowing that it could harm their mental health.

The lawsuit seeks at least $5bn in compensation for the millions of children who use Instagram every day in the US, and asks the court to ban Instagram from providing many of its core features to under-18s.

The company has not yet responded in court to the lawsuit, but is expected to contest it. A Meta spokesperson gave only a boilerplate statement that it has used in response to other similar lawsuits, saying that its apps include many tools and features designed to keep teenagers safe.

The case cites numerous internal documents made public by Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021, showing how the company repeatedly dismissed internal evidence that Instagram might be hurting young users.

"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," says the lawsuit.

"Nonetheless, Meta has done nothing to improve its social media products or limit their access to young users. In fact, a child can sign up for Meta’s harmful products in a matter of minutes, without any parental or guardian guidance or consent...

"Meta's conduct has harmed [the] plaintiff and [other children], and will continue to harm them unless and until it is stopped."

According to Monday's lawsuit, "AA" is a 13-year-old New Yorker who began using Instagram at the age of 10 and now spends about five hours every day on the popular photo-sharing app, including up to one hour before sleeping. The lawsuit claims Meta did little to verify her age, despite Instagram's rules barring users below the age of 13.

As a result, the lawsuit alleges, she has become "unable to put her phone away" and "constantly checks Instagram while doing her homework", causing her to stay up late and rush her tasks.

It also claims that she becomes "overwhelmed with anxiety" when she does not check her notifications and has "internalised the belief that her friends are constantly ignoring her" when they do not like or engage with her posts.

The complaint cites internal documents showing that Meta put recruiting more teenagers to its services among its highest priorities as it sought to offset the declining popularity of its best-known app, Facebook, and the gradual ageing of its original user base.

In pursuit of that goal, the complaint alleges, Meta repeatedly dismissed internal and external reports that its apps were having a negative effect on young users in particular, such as by inducing them to continually compare themselves to others.

Among the features singled out for criticism are Instagram's algorithmically-sorted, infinite scrolling news feed, which functions like a slot machine by tempting users to continually refresh it in the hope of getting an unpredictable reward.

Moreover, external and internal investigations found evidence that Instagram's automated recommendation system was amplifying users' most negative impulses, such as by picking up on their interest in eating disorder content and pushing more of the same.

Internal research also discovered that these automated systems appeared to favour so-called "negative appearance comparison" or NAC content, which made users feel jealous or bad about themselves, and that this content was damaging teenagers' wellbeing.

Other internal studies and reports raised concerns about the frequency of notifications, the psychological impact of displaying how many likes each post had received, and AI filters designed to make users look like they'd had plastic surgery.

Meanwhile, Meta was well aware that an estimated 4 million under-13s in the US were using its services in violation of its rules, and that its age verification systems offered few barriers to under-age users.

Nevertheless, the lawsuit contends that Meta repeatedly dismissed these worries and repeatedly turned down opportunities to fix or ameliorate known problems, often at the personal behest of chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

"Instead of warning parents and young users of the dangers of Instagram, Meta has gone to great lengths to solicit increased numbers of young users to join and spend more time on their platforms," the lawyers argue.

"Through [various] misrepresentations to young users, parents, Congress, and other members of the public, Meta deceived the public about the qualities, nature, and effects of Instagram, all in a feeble effort to hide the significant harm they cause."

The case continues.