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Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today issued the following statement after juries in New Mexico and California returned verdicts against Meta and a jury in California returned a verdict against YouTube for designing social media platforms that exploit children and cause serious harm to their mental health.
“The verdict against Meta and YouTube in California, along with the verdict against Meta in New Mexico, are landmark moments in the fight to protect our children from social media platforms that are designed to exploit them. The anxiety, depression, and addiction that millions of young people are experiencing are not accidents — they are the result of deliberate design choices made by companies that put profit over young people's mental health. These verdicts are a long-overdue reckoning for an industry that has spent years exploiting the vulnerabilities of children while telling parents there was nothing to worry about. Maryland is part of similar multistate federal litigation against Meta because every child across our State and nation deserves protection from platforms that treat them as a commodity and exploit their vulnerabilities. Our children's wellbeing should not be for sale."
In October 2023, Attorney General Brown and a bipartisan coalition attorneys general filed lawsuits against Meta Platforms Inc., alleging that the company knowingly designed Instagram and Facebook with addictive features, while falsely assuring the public that these features are safe and suitable for young users. Attorney General Brown's case remains ongoing.
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