On October 24, 2023, 33 states filed a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, for knowingly developing technologies that engage and manipulate teenagers and children into becoming addicted to these platforms. The states accuse Meta of developing “psychologically manipulative Platform features designed to maximize young users’ time spent on its Social Media platforms.” Complaint at 2, People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 4:23-cv-05448, (N.D. Cal. 2023). Pursuant to the complaint, research shows an association between children’s use of Meta’s social media platforms and “depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes.” Id. at 3. The states also argue that Meta is violating its obligations under the Children’s Online Privacy Act (“COPPA”) by unlawfully collecting minor users’ data without their parents' permission. On the same day, the District of Columbia and eight other states filed separately against Meta raising most of the same claims. The attorneys general are seeking financial penalties from Meta under local and state consumer protection laws, while DC and the other states are also asking the court for injunctive relief to force Meta to stop using certain addictive tech features that are harmful to young users.