Idaho and over forty states have filed a lawsuit against the world's largest social media platform, Facebook. Social media companies have begun to face lawsuits and legal challenges concerning the content on their platforms and who has access to those platforms.

The lawsuit filed this week alleges that Facebook or Meta knowingly allowed children under the age of 13 to engage on their platform. If the allegation is true, Facebook is violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Idaho Attorney General Explains COPPA

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador details COPPA, "COPPA prohibits social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram from enrolling users who are under age 13," Labrador said. "Today's lawsuit alleges that Meta knew children used its platforms and the company knowingly collected data from them without parental consent."

Social Media Predatory Practices

Social media practices have drawn criticism from talk radio hosts to government officials. This lawsuit will provide an interesting answer to an ongoing question: are social media platforms, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and others, too big to be controlled by the United States or any other government in the world?

Congress has looked into the practice of Facebook, including calling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to defend his company before a Congressional committee. 

It wasn't an investigation that led to the multi-state lawsuit but a report from a well-known publication that led to litigation. The Utah Attorney General's Office explains that the complaint builds on information leaked to The Wall Street Journal in September 2021 that showed that Meta put "profits over safety" and that the company has known for years that its business practices were negatively impacting the health and well-being of young users. These documents and the information obtained through the state's investigation starkly contrast with the misleading public reports Meta published, touting low rates of negative, harmful experiences and promising safety and security, particularly for young users.