Recent court documents have placed Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, under scrutiny, revealing intentional exploitation of vulnerabilities in young users' minds to enhance platform addiction. Reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times disclose Meta's alleged intentional collection of children's personal data and its efforts to engineer addictive features targeting youth psychology.
The unredacted legal complaint filed by 33 US States accuses Meta of capitalizing on aspects of adolescent psychology, leveraging tendencies toward impulsiveness and peer pressure. The company allegedly built Facebook and Instagram with intentionally addictive features that potentially harm young users.
The complaint asserts that Meta was well aware of millions of underage Instagram users, deemed an "open secret" within the company and carefully guarded from public disclosure. Internal communications, employee chats, presentations, and emails reportedly highlight Meta's knowledge and deliberate design of addictive features tailored to teenagers and young adults.
An internal Meta presentation from 2020, cited by The Wall Street Journal, referred to teenagers' insatiable craving for "feel good" dopamine effects. The presentation outlined how the platforms are adept at delivering stimuli triggering this potent neurotransmitter, providing dopamine hits upon encountering unexpected content.
Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, reportedly acknowledged in an internal chat that "Tweens want access to Instagram and they lie about their age to get it now," contradicting his later Senate testimony stating that children under 13 aren't permitted on Instagram.
Meta's internal discussions acknowledged concerns about well-being among younger teens, with Instagram's policy head recognizing the platform as unsuitable for their cognitive and emotional capacities compared to older teens.
Instances were cited where Meta employees discussed retaining accounts of underage users despite parental complaints and requests, raising questions about age verification measures' effectiveness and the company's actions regarding underage users.
While Meta denies intentionally designing addictive features, court filings suggest tolerance of underage usage and the platforms' popularity among preteens. Allegations point to Meta's failure to address underage usage and the exploitation of weak age protection measures.