RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina’s lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta is moving forward now that a federal judge has mostly rejected a request to dismiss the case.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and attorneys general from 41 other U.S. states filed a lawsuit in 2023 claiming that Meta designed its social media platforms to hook children and teenagers and deceived people about the apps’ harms.
The lawsuit accuses Meta of marketing its platforms to young people to increase profits despite knowing that the platforms are harmful to children, misleading the public about the dangers of social media use among children and knowingly collecting data from users under the age of 13 without parental consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
In the lawsuit’s introduction, the plaintiffs, including Stein, said:
Over the past decade, Meta—itself and through its flagship Social Media Platforms Facebook and Instagram (its Social Media Platforms or Platforms)—has profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans. Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms. It has concealed the ways in which these Platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children. And it has ignored the sweeping damage these Platforms have caused to the mental and physical health of our nation’s youth. In doing so, Meta engaged in, and continues to engage in, deceptive and unlawful conduct in violation of state and federal law.
The court said it would not dismiss most of the claims, but it did dismiss enough to narrow the lawsuit’s scope.
The states’ lawsuit will move forward focusing on Meta’s use of appearance-altering filters, platform features that hinder time restrictions and Instagram’s “multiple accounts” function.
However, the court dismissed claims related to infinite scroll, autoplay, ephemeral content, audiovisual and vibration notifications, the display of likes and the algorithmic serving of content to young users.
For the individuals suing Meta as personal injury plaintiffs, the court similarly limited the scope of their case. The court also dismissed the personal injury plaintiffs’ claims based on Meta’s affirmative statements in 11 states, including North Carolina, and “negligent misrepresentation by omission” in eight states, including North Carolina. However, claims that Meta failed to warn users about known risks can move forward.
“I’m pleased that the court saw through Meta’s attempts to avoid being held responsible for the damage it has done to young people’s health and wellbeing,” Stein said. “I’m going to keep fighting to protect our kids and make sure that Meta does better by them.”