PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined Attorneys General from 41 other states in filing federal or state lawsuits against Meta alleging that the company knowingly designed and developed harmful features on Instagram and other social media platforms that purposefully addicted children and teens.

South Dakota is part of the federal complaint, which includes 32 other states, and was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It alleges that Meta knew of the harmful impacts that the platforms had on the mental health of young people and that the company misled the public about the harms associated with the use of its platforms.

“Social media use, including Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, has played a major role in the youth mental health issues occurring in America,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Such platforms have led or contributed to physical and emotional harm to children and devastating families. Meta needs to be held accountable for its actions.”

Attorneys Generals also joining the federal lawsuit are from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Florida is filing its own federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Eight other states filed similar lawsuits in their own state courts. Those states are District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont.

The federal lawsuit can be read here: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/meta-multistate-complaint.pdf.