Charles Krupa / AP
Aaron Ford, Attorney General of Nevada, answers a question during an interview at the State Attorneys General Association meetings, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Boston.
Published Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 | 3:37 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 | 10:54 a.m.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced today he is taking legal action against three social media giants because their algorithms “have been designed deliberately to addict young minds.”
The litigation was filed against TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp messenger.
It alleges the sites’ recommendation algorithms have encouraged problematic internet usage and caused harm to young peoples’ mental health, body image, physical health, privacy and safety.
“Bringing this litigation is an important step toward ensuring social media platforms put our children’s safety before their profits,” Ford said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with our partners to protect the youth of our state.”
Ford said the apps feature endless scrolling, “dopamine-inducing” rewards and disappearing content alleged to manipulate young users and get them addicted to online platforms.
Ford said each of the platforms have a sizable number of teen users, as well as a large percentage of users under 13, the legal age to use the sites.
Snapchat issued a statement saying its product "was intentionally designed to be different from traditional social media, with a focus on helping Snapchatters communicate with their close friends. Snapchat opens directly to a camera — rather than a feed of content that encourages passive scrolling — and has no traditional public likes or comments. While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence."
Meta and TikTok could not immediately be reached for comment.
Since October, more than 41 states have filed lawsuits against Meta and other social media platforms.
A lawsuit filed by 33 states in federal court in California, claims Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.
The broad-ranging federal suit is the result of an investigation led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont.
It follows damning newspaper reports, first by The Wall Street Journal in the fall of 2021, based on the Meta’s own research that found the company knew about the harms Instagram could cause teens — especially girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues.
One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.
The use of social media among teens is nearly universal in the U.S. and many other parts of the world. Almost all teens ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform, with about a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.
In May, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called on tech companies, parents and caregivers to take “immediate action to protect kids now” from the harms of social media.
Ford’s office will partner with Dallas-based Nachawati Law Group; WH Law, based in Little Rock, Ark., and Kemp Jones, LLP, which is located in Las Vegas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
