With children getting affected by social media in different ways, for long, health experts have been urging tech companies to make their products safer for young people.

Facebook, rechristened as Meta (launched by American business magnate Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004 solely for college students) and Instagram (the popular photo and video sharing social networking service, which he acquired in April 2012, for approximately USD 1 billion in cash and stock) have been in the news recently for the wrong reasons.

According to the lawsuit, which was reportedly filed jointly by 33 states in the US this October 24, Meta has been accused of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that protects the digital privacy of children under 13 years of age. Eight states and the District of Columbia have filed separate lawsuits in state or federal courts, many alleging that Meta violated state consumer protection laws.

Both Meta and Instagram have grown considerably globally. India is among Meta's largest user bases and growing. If reports are to be believed, as of May this year, there were 53,57,00,000 Facebook users in India, including 17,92,00,000 persons aged 25 to 34 years. Similarly, there were 34,25,00,000 Instagram users including 1,386,00,000 persons aged 18 to 24 years. To handle multiple operations for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, Meta has an estimated 300-400 employees in India.

The cause for concern is that ever since the term “Facebook depression” was first coined in a 2011 report by the American Academy of Paediatrics, there is a growing concern among parents. Simply put, “Facebook depression” is defined as the depression that develops when pre-teens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites such as Facebook and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression.

More so after the COVID 19 pandemic, the importance of social media hasn’t stopped expanding in our everyday lives. Although there’s no clear-cut scientific consensus yet as to whether social media use per se is a major cause of a growing number of anxiety cases among adolescents, most researchers seem to agree that excessive social media use can harm the child.

According to Michael Rosenblum, adjunct professor of communication, New York University, social media platforms (be it Facebook or Instagram or Tik Tok) get paid by advertisers to get access to the viewers’ eyeballs and their data… The more eyeballs, the more viewers, the more they pay. Their job is to attract the viewer to their content and hold them there so that the advertisers can slip in their own content, which is specifically designed to convince you to buy their product. Ironically put,the social media company builds the mousetrap. The content is the cheese and the individual viewer is the mouse!

An Australian court recently slapped Meta and its subsidiary Onavo Protect with USD 13.54 million in fines. The Onavo Protect app (since discontinued) had reportedly promised a free virtual private network service that would keep user data safe online besides give its customers peace of mind while browsing the internet.

However, it was found by the Australian authorities that the app secretly collected significant amounts of personal data between February 2016 and October 2017 like tracking online activity, recording the number of seconds spent on the app, alongside IP addresses etc., from users for a range of business purposes, including advertising/marketing activities, improving its products/services and developing commercial strategies.

In 2021, Facebook whistle blower Frances Haugen had reportedly testified to a US Senate subcommittee that teen girls on Instagram faced a barrage of harmful content, including images promoting anorexia and other body image disorders. 

Advocating the need for government regulators to step in, she maintained that Instagram’s algorithms preyed on the vulnerabilities of young children and as teens have poor impulse control, they kept coming to the app even though it made them feel worse about themselves.

Further, investigations into Meta by several states in the US over the past two years, according to media reports, had found that Instagram was having a negative effect on some teen users’ mental health.

The new advisory recently issued by United States Surgeon General about the effects that social media use has on the mental health of the youth are of significance globally. Among the benefits, adolescents report that social media helps them feel more accepted (58 percent), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67 percent), like they have a place to show their creative side (71 percent), and more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives (80 percent).

Nonetheless, even as social media may offer some benefits, there are ample indicators that it can also pose a risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. 

With up to 95 percent of young people aged between 13 and 17 reportedly using a social media platform and more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly”, usage of social media can become harmful depending on the amount of time children spend on the platforms, the type of content they consume or are otherwise exposed to, and the degree to which it disrupts activities that are essential for health like sleep and physical activity.

The voluminous lawsuit, available in the public domain, in so far as Instagram is concerned, among others, has alleged that Meta hosts, maintains and promotes thousands of accounts on Instagram which are dedicated to displaying images and videos of child models, child celebrities and other child-oriented celebrities. Instagram’s audience composition includes millions of users under the age of 13 and advertising that promotes Instagram and appears on Instagram is directed to children. 

Meta’s design of the Instagram registration process allows children under 13 to use Instagram. Meta collects “personal information” of children through Instagram including, but not limited to, geolocation information, persistent identifiers of the child, unique device identifiers, photos and videos of the child, and other individually identifiable information about each user under the age of 13. 

Meta does not obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from users under the age of 13 on Instagram.

Facebook, which is “directed to children”, maintains and promotes thousands of pages and accounts that are child-oriented, states the lawsuit. Meta permits advertisements to be displayed within Facebook that feature children and are directed to children. Meta does not obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from users under age 13 on Facebook. 

The “personal information” of children collected by Meta through Facebook includes, but is not limited to, geolocation information, persistent identifiers of the user, unique device identifiers, photos and videos of the children, and other individually identifiable information about each child-user. 

Meta misrepresented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication, that its Social Media Platforms are not psychologically or physically harmful for young users and are not designed to induce young users’ compulsive and extended use, when they are in fact so designed.

Meta misrepresented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication that it prioritized young users’ health and safety over maximizing profits, when in fact Meta’s goal is  maximizing profits by prolonging young users’ time spent on its Social Media Platforms. 

Meta misrepresented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication that it prevents under-13 users from using Instagram and/or Facebook when in fact Meta was aware that it does not prevent under-13 users from using Instagram and Facebook. 

Meta algorithmically served content to young users, according to “variable reinforcement schedules,” thereby manipulating dopamine releases in young users unfairly or unconscionably inducing them to engage repeatedly with its products — much like a gambler at a slot machine.

Meta’s acts and practices alleged herein, including Meta’s actions taken to encourage young users’ compulsive and unhealthy use of and addiction to its social media platforms, are offensive to public policy, as defined by statute and common law.

The lawsuit seeks a variety of remedies, including substantial civil penalties as also ban Meta from making further false, deceptive, or misleading representations.

A distant relative found it rather challenging to restrict the screen time of her two teenage children who spent considerable time online. Leading by example paid rich dividends. The children can use social media after completing their studies for a hour only daily. After dinner, none of the parents or children uses their mobiles for any online activities as per an unwritten rule and there are no exceptions.

With anxiety caused by excessive social media use steadily rising which can cause an imbalance in a child's life, it is necessary that children are helped to find hobbies and develop a strong offline personality that can help prevent excessive social media use. 

So, at the family level, it is imperative that parents realise the usage of social media can become harmful depending on the amount of time their children spend on such platforms. 

Most importantly, the type of content that children consume or are otherwise exposed disrupts normal activities like sleep and physical activity. This ought to be closely monitored to keep addiction at bay.

The-just-begun legal battle in the US courts holds hope that online social media platforms like Meta will become much safer for our children in India, too. At the same time, it also needs to be appreciated that since Big Tech is so different from other business sectors, it is an onerous and challenging task to regulate it.