The mother of a 14-year-old Castle Rock girl who became addicted to social media sued the parent company of Facebook and Instagram earlier this month on the grounds the company deliberately designed addictive, dangerous products and failed to warn users of the potential pitfalls.
The lawsuit relies on a largely untested legal argument that’s “way out on the frontier,” said Denver attorney Randy Barnhart. “All told, Meta’s algorithm optimizes for angry, divisive and polarizing content because it’ll increase its number of users and the time users stay on the platform per viewing session, which thereby increases its appeal to advertisers, thereby increasing its overall value and profitability,” reads the complaint in the Colorado case.
I am no defender of Facebook but it’s ironic that this lawsuit says it’s about accountability when the plaintiffs are anything but accountable for their own actions. The irony in that is priceless. Last time I checked no one force anyone to use social media.