Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares claims media giant Meta intentionally laced its user content with "behavior cocaine" to keep teens hooked, and now he’s taking them to court.
Miyares, along with a bipartisan group of 41 other attorneys general, sued Meta in federal and state courts Tuesday, alleging the company "knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and its other social media platforms that are purposefully addictive for children and teens."
At the same time, Meta "repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers" of its platforms and concealed the ways in which its platforms "exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children," the lawsuit states.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Miyares compared Meta’s behavior to that of Big Tobacco, which used cartoon characters decades ago in its advertisements to appeal to kids. If Meta doesn’t change its ways and "be part of the solution", Miyares said, he’s willing to fight them "all damn day."
