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Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

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Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#31

Post by gmiller123456 »

barbazoo wrote: post #3

> Meta, along with Snap, TikTok, and Google, now face hundreds of lawsuits claiming they are to blame for adolescents and young adults suffering anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and sleeplessness as a result of their addiction to social media. The companies also face scores of complaints by public school districts on behalf of students alleging that the platforms have created a public nuisance. I hope the money…

Kids have been having those problems well before social media came along, so it's quite a bold claim to say they know social media made them worse. But it's a fair bet to say not a dime from the lawsuit will go to a single victim. So I'd take a really skeptical look at both sides.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#32

Post by dexwiz »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #28
tempodox wrote: post #27

When will social media finally be regulated like alcohol, nicotine, and every other addictive poison?

When the First Amendment is repealed.

Both censorship and advertising regulations both exist in accordance with the first amendment.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#33

Post by cj »

pixl97 wrote: post #10
barbazoo wrote: post #3

> Meta, along with Snap, TikTok, and Google, now face hundreds of lawsuits claiming they are to blame for adolescents and young adults suffering anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and sleeplessness as a result of their addiction to social media. The companies also face scores of complaints by public school districts on behalf of students alleging that the platforms have created a public nuisance. I hope the money…

How often again do you hear billionaires say "Oh no, I wish I had been more ethical and not made mountains of cash off by shitty behavior", because I'm not having any recollections of this. The fines are just a cost of doing business for them.

I agree the US is soft on punishing white-collar crime. But Sackler family comes to mind. And of course there's Sam Bankman-Fried. Bernie Madoff, etc.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#34

Post by hutzlibu »

SoftTalker wrote: post #29
paxys wrote: post #8

I'm convinced that a decade or two from now we are going to look back on social media exactly like we see the tobacco industry today. The companies knew what they were selling, knew the harm, but put profit over public good.

Will we be saying the same thing about cannabis dispensaries?

We know the downsides already and most think the downsides of crminalization is higher.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#35

Post by pests »

SoftTalker wrote: post #29
paxys wrote: post #8

I'm convinced that a decade or two from now we are going to look back on social media exactly like we see the tobacco industry today. The companies knew what they were selling, knew the harm, but put profit over public good.

Will we be saying the same thing about cannabis dispensaries?

No?

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#36

Post by CamperBob2 »

dexwiz wrote: post #32
CamperBob2 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the First Amendment is repealed.

Both censorship and advertising regulations both exist in accordance with the first amendment.

No, they exist as instances of rationalized disobedience. If the founders had meant something other than "Congress shall make no law," nothing stopped them from saying so.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#37

Post by micromacrofoot »

Eumenes wrote: post #12
micromacrofoot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things are in fact starting to change, though I wish they happened sooner. The FTC is currently looking to hire child psychologists in an effort to further investigate this kind of claim.

You don't need 'experts' to realize that social media is bad for young people. They are just going to suggest regulating content. I can see it now ... young girls cannot see content showcasing skinny or 'classically beautiful' women, because it gives them a skewed perspective of 'beauty' that may lead to eating disorders. The FTC pats themselves on the back, job well done, and nothing changes. Regulating the internet…

cell and wifi jammers are illegal (with some very good reasons), so yeah you're going to need some experts

we know what happens when the government creates uninformed regulations, so I think it's worth supporting them when they appear to take a reasonable approach

kids need to be able to operate within the world that technology has created, and parents need informed guidelines and tools to enforce them

the all or nothing approach probably isn't the way to go... how's abstinence only sex education going, for example?

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#38

Post by duringmath »

It's worth noting that these lawsuits are based on junk and non existent science, so just because they're being sued it doesn't mean there's any merit to it. It only means that law firms, ambulance chasers, and grandstanding politicians are using some misplaced anger against Facebook et al to make a buck or raise their political profiles.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#39

Post by cj »

SoftTalker wrote: post #29
paxys wrote: post #8

I'm convinced that a decade or two from now we are going to look back on social media exactly like we see the tobacco industry today. The companies knew what they were selling, knew the harm, but put profit over public good.

Will we be saying the same thing about cannabis dispensaries?

IMO no, because legal cannabis is sold with warnings plastered everywhere just like cigarettes. (Unless you think the existing disclosure doesn't properly warn users of the danger)

I bet this case would never have been brought if Facebook had a "This product is addictive" warning every time you open the app.

Re: Meta sued by states over harmful youth marketing

#40

Post by KittenInABox »

Eumenes wrote: post #12
micromacrofoot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things are in fact starting to change, though I wish they happened sooner. The FTC is currently looking to hire child psychologists in an effort to further investigate this kind of claim.

You don't need 'experts' to realize that social media is bad for young people. They are just going to suggest regulating content. I can see it now ... young girls cannot see content showcasing skinny or 'classically beautiful' women, because it gives them a skewed perspective of 'beauty' that may lead to eating disorders. The FTC pats themselves on the back, job well done, and nothing changes. Regulating the internet…

> I can see it now ... young girls cannot see content showcasing skinny or 'classically beautiful' women, because it gives them a skewed perspective of 'beauty' that may lead to eating disorders.

Do you actually have any real exposure to the kind of things that are targeted to women on social media? It's more like young girls shouln't get sold that it's reasonable for them to achieve with a full schoolday and budget of a teenager the same appearance as a wealthy woman who has access to time, dieticians, personal trainers, and a plastic surgeon, except the wealthy woman tells you her one secret trick is actually a 75$ green powder she takes in the morning (the powder making company is paying her of course).

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