Meta is ‘fully aware’ of what happens on its platforms: Teenager
Alexis Spence is suing Meta for encouraging harmful content on its platforms like Instagram after addiction led to dangerous habits.
A teenager suing Meta told "America's Newsroom" Friday the social media company is purposefully creating "addictive" platforms and encouraging harmful content that can have a devastating influence on users.
Alexis Spence joined Instagram at 11 years old despite the platform setting the minimum age for users to 13. Spence says her intentions for joining social media were "innocent" but resulted in an eating disorder, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
"It started for my Webkinz [stuffed animals]" Spence told host Dana Perino. "It slowly took a very dark turn, and it started showing me fitness content. And then the second I engaged with the fitness content, it started showing me eating disorder content and showing me very sickly girls and boys and very skinny, sick people. And when you're 11 years old, and you're seeing that content daily, it's really troubling."
Now struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues, Spence and her family decided to take legal action against Meta after learning from a whistleblower the company was aware of how its platforms can affect young people.
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Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on smartpone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Intagram, Whatsapp and Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (Reuters)
"My husband and I were one set of parents trying to keep our daughter safe and try to keep our daughter alive," Spence's mother, Kathleen shared. "And they were behind closed doors trying to keep her engaged and online and make money off of it."
"Meta deliberately designed a product to be addictive to young children," social media victim attorney Matthew Bergman added. "They looked at children as animals."
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen sparked global attention and confirmed parents' fears regarding social media when she leaked information about the tech giant.
"The choices being made inside of Facebook are disastrous for our children, for our public safety, for our privacy, and for our democracy," Haugen said in her opening statement before lawmakers in October 2021. "I saw Facebook repeatedly encounter conflicts between its own profits and our safety. Facebook consistently resolved these conflicts in favor of its own profits."
Spence's case highlights the ongoing debate surrounding social media and regulation.
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"They are fully aware of what's happening," Spence said, concluding with song lyrics from pop singer Halsey.
"I'm tired and angry, but somebody should be."
Fox News' Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.