Colorado among dozens of states suing Meta over "harmful effect" on kids' mental health

Colorado joined dozens of states' attorneys general in announcing a federal lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, on Tuesday. 

The lawsuit alleges that Meta, created and implemented harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that get children and teens addicted to these social media sites, often to their mental and physical detriment. The state of Colorado, specifically, alleges the company violates consumer protection laws.

RELATED: Aspen School District sues several social media corporations

"When you look at rates of suicide, self-harm, emergency room visits, we have to act," Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser said. "It is very clear that the decisions made by social media platforms like Meta are part of what is driving mental health harms, physical health harms and threats that we can't ignore."

Weiser also joined almost every state in a lawsuit against Facebook in 2020, citing anti-trust concerns and saying that the company harmed smaller businesses.

And earlier this year, the Aspen School District filed a lawsuit against YouTube, Snap (Snapchat's parent company), ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) and Meta, alleging those companies maximized user engagement at the detriment of young users to the extent of addiction.

You can read Tuesday's federal lawsuit here: