Philly Woman Slams Facebook and Instagram in New Lawsuit, Claiming They Harmed Her
She says she became addicted to the platforms as a minor and that her interactions on them led to depression and an eating disorder, among other conditions.
Mark Zuckerberg, whose companies Meta, Facebook and Instagram are being sued alleging they cause addiction and injuries like eating disorders and depression, testifying before Congress in 2019 / Photograph via Getty Images
Amid the growing outcry against Meta over its Facebook and Instagram products, a Philadelphia woman has sued the social media behemoth, alleging that she became addicted to both platforms and sustained injuries as a result of using them.
Roxborough resident Laurel Clevenger, 21, filed her suit in Philadelphia’s federal court last week, naming as defendants Meta Platforms, Inc., Instagram, and various Facebook corporate entities.
“Meta knowingly exploited its most vulnerable users — children throughout the world — to drive corporate products,” reads the lengthy suit, which goes on to spell out a list of allegations that mirrors much of the negative news and revelations that have come out about Facebook since the 2020 hearings before both the U.S. House and Senate.
“Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together,” Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg told the Senate. “Our products enable more than 3 billion people around the world to share ideas, offer support, and discuss important issues, including politics, public health, and social issues. Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
But it was during those same series of hearings that a former executive testified that Facebook knowingly made its products as addictive as possible, taking “a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook.”
“Defendants have intentionally designed their products to maximize users’ screen time, using complex algorithms designed to exploit human psychology,” Clevenger’s suit reads. “They have progressively modified their products to promote problematic and excessive use that they know threatens the actuation of addictive and self-destructive behavioral patterns.”
In short, argues the suit, Facebook and Instagram do whatever they can to keep users on the platforms for as much time as possible to maximize corporate revenue ($117.9 billion in 2021, if you’re keeping track) while doing little or nothing to protect users — particularly minors, and particularly teenage girls — from harmful content and the potential effects of spending so much time on social media when the companies allegedly know full well about the damage that can be done.
Clevenger says in the suit that she began using Facebook and Instagram while she was a minor and quickly became addicted. She claims that the content that the platforms pushed out to her and the methods they used initially led to a lack of sleep and a decline in her desire to do anything other than be on them.
Eventually, the suit alleges, Clevenger’s interactions with Facebook and Instagram caused her to develop several injuries, including an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, depression and repeated periods of suicidal ideation, among other things.
“Facebook, Instagram, and their parent company Meta intentionally designed products to be addictive,” asserts Michael Weinkowitz, the attorney representing Clevenger. “They used sophisticated algorithms to manipulate users to increase time and engagement on the platforms, despite knowledge of devastating harm to its most vulnerable user.”
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, accuses Meta, Facebook and Instagram of negligence, misrepresentation, fraud, conspiracy and other offenses.
Similar lawsuits have popped up elsewhere in the country over the last few months — Clevenger’s attorney Michael Weinkowitz says there are currently just shy of 30 — while this is the first to be filed in the Philadelphia area.
Because of the complexity of the cases, the similarities of the allegations, and the fact that they are spread over so many jurisdictions, they might be consolidated into one depending on the decision of a judicial review panel.
“My sense is that there will be thousands of lawsuits,” observes Weinkowitz. Meta did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
