Cases in 42 states of America against Facebook-Instagram

- When will the government, people and judiciary wake up in India?

- Social media causes depression, anxiety, insomnia and is dangerous for mental health: Facebook works for profit, not for the benefit of consumers.

Washington: 42 out of 50 US states have filed a case against Meta, the owner of social media sites and mobile applications like Facebook and Instagram, for adopting tactics that make children and youth addicted, causing mental health deterioration for profit. According to the cases filed in California and New York, both these social media platforms have been held responsible for causing depression, anxiety, insomnia and disruption in daily life in children.

Metan has knowingly added such features on Facebook and Instagram, and the company is collecting data from children under the age of 13 without prior parental consent, contrary to US laws, the petition filed in a California court said.

'Meta has developed powerful technologies and tools to entice, increasingly attract and entrap youth and teenagers. The objective of the company is to generate profit and maximize financial gain. "Meta is misleading the public about the great dangers of its social media platform," the complaint said. The complaint also added that the platform is targeting teenagers and children who are the weakest mentally and taking advantage of them.

In America, 33 states, including California, New York, have filed a case, while another nine states have filed a case in their own courts, and a total of 42 states have filed this case. In America, hundreds of cases have been filed against technology and social media companies including Google, Tik Tok, but the case against Meta is the biggest, the informants add.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that research is showing that the mental health of children and adolescents is deteriorating at record levels, and that social media companies like Meta are responsible for that. "Cleverly, these companies introduce features that make kids addicted to the platform, lower their self-confidence, and profit from it." He said that.

A report was published in 2021 by the Wall Street Journal. The report cited the Meta company's own internal research showing that Instagram is having a negative impact on teenagers and especially girls. Their views on mental health and body composition in particular are changing. The case was filed on Tuesday after the Republican and Democrat parties joined forces with California, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and other states to investigate. The press report claimed that the company itself knows that Instagram harms mental health. According to the report, 13.5 percent of teenage girls on Instagram had suicidal thoughts, while 17 percent had thoughts about eating habits or not eating.

After this report, the Associated Press and other news organizations did their own research and released their findings. Facebook employee Frances Hogan has also disclosed these reports before the American Congress and the British Parliamentary Committee. Frances said that Facebook values ​​its own profits more than the interests of customers.

The prevalence of Facebook and other social media around the world continues to expand. In America alone, 95 percent of children in the age group of 13 to 17 are seen working on one or the other platform. Children below 13 years of age cannot join such platforms as there is a ban in America. But, despite such restrictions - many youngsters join these platforms even without parental permission.

Apart from Facebook, hundreds of other cases including Bite Dance, Google, Tube have been reported in America with the allegation that Mathi is affecting the psyche of children and youth. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has previously said that his company is aware of these risks and is taking specific measures for them. Facebook said in a statement about the new case that the company is disappointed by the case. Instead of working with the technology companies, the government has started treating them as accused.

Days of social media indulgence are over: India

The social media platform was allowed till now in the world and especially in the US, but now times have changed and it should be reviewed, India said on the case filed in the US against Meta.

'Every such platform should have a certain responsibility. Who can put content on it, who can read it. The days of concessions and emancipation which had been enjoyed till now are over. The Government of India also has the same intention. It is time to wake up to the reality and its criminal threats,' said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.

Adding that the Indian government is working to protect every citizen, Chandrasekhar said that every social media platform has to follow the rules. A notice has also been sent to them as per law. If they do not comply, action will be taken as per law. No one will be spared.

Girls who use Instagram's photo-sharing app suffer from depression

After getting addicted to Facebook and Instagram, children are addicted to it, so they develop serious mental illnesses. According to a survey conducted in America, more than 70 percent of children who are addicted to social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram have serious mental illnesses including anxiety, insomnia, depression, and eating disorders. Most of the children develop extreme irritability and prefer to be alone, thus becoming antisocial. In many children, mental illness progresses to the point of turning to violence and crime.

Frances Hogen, a former employee of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, raised serious allegations in 2021 about Meta's tactics. Hogenne alleged that the company knew that children and teenagers were falling prey to mental illnesses due to their addiction to Facebook and Instagram, but did not take any steps to prevent it because their addiction was generating huge profits.

Hogen claimed that An internal survey conducted at Instagram concluded that girls who used the Instagram photo-sharing app were victims of depression and anxiety. He had body-image issues. This means that the comments on his photo led to depression and severe mental illness.

What can Facebook be punished?

According to American law, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, can be fined from 1,000 to 50,000 dollars for each case of violation. Millions of American children are active and connected on Instagram, so the company is facing a multi-million dollar fine.

Catch Them Young, the theory of making money at an early age

There is a principle of marketing, catch them young. It means that if you keep small children under your control, you will be able to earn all your life. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has made a lucrative business by targeting children by implementing the same principle. Meta believes that if children are addicted to Facebook and Instagram, they will receive more advertisements because the advertiser thinks that the children will buy their products even when they grow up. Advertisers are also showing more interest in investing in the future generation to keep their business thriving in the future. So Facebook and Instagram have been implementing strategies to get kids and teenagers addicted to Facebook and Instagram for years. Due to this strategy, Meta's earnings are increasing day by day and night by day. The company has made a loss of 23 billion dollars in the year 2022 but this figure is not to be deceived. The company is showing loss because the company is investing in assets. In 2022, the total assets of the company were 185 million dollars and now it may have crossed 200 billion dollars. In 2022, the income of the company was 116 billion dollars, but its assets are more than that, so the company is said to be very strong financially.