DES MOINES, Iowa—Meta Platforms, the parent company of social media apps Facebook and Instagram, was sued in an Iowa state court this week by Attorney General Brenna Bird, with the suit alleging social media addiction and harms to Hawkeye youth.
Bird, a conservative Republican, filed the lawsuit at the Iowa District Court for Polk County, which encompasses Des Moines, days after juries for state courts in California and New Mexico ruled that such platforms are addictive by design.
In a statement, Bird said, "Instagram says their content is safe for kids. It’s not. And Instagram was designed to get our children addicted to it, causing harm to their mental health and physical safety."
The suit seeks damages to the state for violation of key laws related to consumer protection and deceptive marketing. On top of that, Bird asserts in the suit that Instagram is a platform that openly promotes explicit content to teens.
"Defendants allow rampant profanity, sexual content and nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and references, and mature/suggestive themes on the Instagram platform, including readily accessible hardcore pornography," the lawsuit reads.
"Defendants use human and computer moderators to police the content on Instagram, but those moderators either systematically fail or apply internal policies that allow these types of content to remain on the platform," it adds.
