ATLANTA –Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Attorneys General across the country are investigating whether Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, violated state consumer protection law by providing and promoting Instagram to children and young adults.
“We have become increasingly concerned with Meta possibly marketing to Georgia’s children despite knowing the risks posed to their overall health and safety,” said Carr. “We will not allow our state’s youngest citizens to become the targets of deceptive social media tactics and plan to work diligently to address this dangerous and alarming trend. Our consumer protection laws are put in place to protect our citizens from misleading and potentially harmful actions, and we look forward to learning more about Meta’s engagement practices.”
The investigation targets, among other things, the techniques utilized by Meta to increase the frequency and duration of engagement by young users and the resulting harms caused by such extended engagement.
Carr’s announcement follows recent reports revealing that Meta’s own internal research shows that using Instagram is associated with increased risks of physical and mental health harms on young people, including depression, eating disorders and even suicide.
Leading the investigation, involving a broad group of states across the country, is a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.