TECH NEWS – Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is under a lawsuit

The state of Ohio (USA) filed a lawsuit on Monday against Meta (the company that owns Facebook and Instagram) for “cheating” users with the algorithm of its social networks.

In a statement, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said that the company’s files leaked to the press in the so-called “Facebook papers” suggest that Meta (formerly Facebook) had misled the public and investors about the operation of its algorithm.

According to the complaint, between April and October of this year, Facebook and its top executives “violated federal securities laws by deliberately misleading the public about the negative effects of its products on the health and well-being of children”.

One of the most controversial revelations from Facebook’s papers was that the company has long had internal studies that found Instagram “toxic” for teenage girls, exacerbating the body image issues that one in three girls have.

In the lawsuit, the Ohio attorney general points out that in the documents, company employees admit that they are not doing what they publicly say they are doing to improve safety and promote wellness through their platforms.

According to the brief, since The Wall Street Journal began publishing information based on these documents in September, the value of Meta (than Facebook) shares devalued by $54.08 per share in one month, generating losses of more than $100 billion for investors.

Therefore, the logic of the lawsuit is that if Facebook and its management had been transparent about the performance and effects of its products, investors could have made informed decisions and potentially avoided these losses.

The attorney general said the lawsuit seeks to restore lost value to investors and force Meta to make “significant reforms” to ensure that it no longer misleads the public about its internal practices.

Source: cnn