Massachusetts sues Meta over addictive social media features
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has sued Meta, alleging that the company intentionally designed addictive features on Facebook and Instagram to profit from young users. The state's highest court heard oral arguments in December 2024 on the case, which claims Meta's own research shows that features like notifications and endless scrolling encourage addiction in hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts teenagers.
What happened
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed a lawsuit in 2024 alleging that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users in order to profit. The state claims Meta's own research shows that features such as constant notifications and endless scrolling encourage addiction to the platforms.
Reported impact
The lawsuit alleges that Meta's actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms.
Index analysis
Meta's attorney argued that the lawsuit would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment. Several judges expressed concern that Meta's features such as notifications are designed to attract users through patterns like fear of missing out, rather than about the content itself.
Governance controls
Meta said it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is confident the evidence will show its longstanding commitment to supporting young people. Meta is also facing a joint federal lawsuit from 33 states and separate lawsuits from other states over addictive features and data collection from children under 13.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.