Illinois Launches Legal Offensive: Meta Accused of Fostering Addiction in Young Users

COUNT XVI: UNFAIR ACTS OR PRACTICES BY META IN VIOLATION OF THE ILLINOIS CONSUMER FRAUD AND DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES ACT, 815 ILCS 505/1 et seq.

949. The People of the State of Illinois reallege and incorporate herein by reference each of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-850 above as though fully alleged in this cause of action.

950. Meta, in the course of trade or commerce, engaged in unfair acts and practices that caused young users’ compulsive and unhealthy use of and addiction to Meta’s Social Media Platforms, including by:

a. Targeting its Social Media Platforms to young users while knowingly designing its Social Media Platforms to include features that Meta knew to be psychologically and physically harmful to young users—including features known to promote compulsive, prolonged, and unhealthy use by young users;

b. Utilizing Social Media Platform features that unfairly harm young users independently of any actions taken by third-party users of Meta’s Platforms. These features include infinite scroll, ephemeral content features, autoplay, quantification and display of Likes, and disruptive alerts, all of which were unfairly utilized by Meta to extract additional time and attention from young users whose developing brains were not equipped to resist those manipulative tactics;

c. Designing, developing, and deploying disruptive audiovisual and vibration notifications and alerts and ephemeral content features in a way that unfairly exploited young users’ psychological vulnerabilities and cultivated a sense of “fear of missing out” in order to induce young users to spend more time than they would otherwise choose on Meta’s Social Media Platforms;

d. Algorithmically serving content to young users according to “variable reinforcement schedules,” thereby manipulating dopamine releases in young users, unfairly inducing them to engage repeatedly with its products—much like a gambler at a slot machine; and

e. Collecting the personal information of under-13 users of Instagram and Facebook without first obtaining verifiable parental consent.

951. Meta’s deployment of manipulative and harmful features, both on their own and especially in combination, for use by young users is an unfair act or practice.

952. At all relevant times, Meta had a thorough understanding of the mental and physical harms and addiction suffered by young users of its Platforms. Instead of taking adequate measures to mitigate these damaging effects, Meta turned a blind eye to them, and persisted in exploiting young users’ psychological vulnerabilities. Meta’s acts and practices alleged herein are immoral, unethical, oppressive, and unscrupulous, including because they constitute knowing decisions causing unnecessary and unjustified harm to young users for Meta’s financial gain.

953. Meta’s acts and practices alleged herein also have caused and continue to cause substantial injury to consumers that could not be reasonably avoided. Young users could not have reasonably avoided injuries resulting from Meta’s acts and practices, including because Meta misrepresented and failed to disclose the dangerous nature of its Social Media Platforms and because Meta utilized psychologically manipulative engagement-inducing features, knowing that young users are especially susceptible to those psychologically manipulative tactics.

954. Meta’s acts and practices, 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 Illinois legislature has expressed a public policy goal of protecting youth from the harms of addiction and related afflictions. See, e.g., Juvenile Court Act of 1987, Article IV (“Addicted Minors”), 705 ILCS 405/4-1 et seq.; Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act, 705 ILCS 410 (recognizing public policy goal of reducing juvenile addiction to drugs); Illinois Gambling Act, 230 ILCS 10 et seq. (recognizing policy issues related to “[c]ompulsive gambling” and prohibiting minors from casino gambling). The protection of minors from the dangers of addiction is a well-established objective underlying public policy in Illinois; 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 therefore offensive to public policy.

955. In addition, the public policy of protecting youth’s private information and requiring parental consent prior to collecting this information is established in COPPA and the COPPA Rule.

956. By engaging in the acts and practices alleged herein, Meta engaged in unfair acts or practices declared unlawful under Section 2 of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (Illinois Consumer Fraud Act), 815 ILCS 505/2, which states in relevant part:

Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices, including but not limited to the use or employment of any deception fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation or the concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact, with intent that others rely upon the concealment, suppression or omission of such material fact, or the use or employment of any practice described in Section 2 of the “Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act”, approved August 5, 1965, in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful whether any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby.