LINCOLN- Nebraska and 40 other states announced a barrage of federal and state lawsuits against the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The filings allege Meta designed social media platforms it knew were addictive and damaging to teens. A group of state attorneys general discussed a shared goal: They want social media companies to protect and not exploit the mental health of teenagers.

A total of 33 states, including Nebraska, joined the federal lawsuit filed in federal court in northern California. Another seven states and the District of Columbia are filing separate state lawsuits against Meta based on a mix of consumer protection laws. Florida is filing a separate federal lawsuit as well. Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell said some steps Meta took went “beyond what is legal and permissible.”

Of particular note, the federal lawsuit alleges, was Meta’s work to advertise and collect data on children younger than 13 years old, which the cooperating attorneys general said violates a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. “It’s really about dismantling this apparatus that has been built, this machine that’s been built to pull in young people and sort of chew them up and spit them out,” Hilgers said of the legal effort.

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