A bipartisan coalition of 33 attorneys general filed a complaint Tuesday in the Northern District of California.
The complained alleged that Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, used deceptive and unlawful conduct to create platforms "directly contributing" to the youth mental health crisis.
The District of Columbia and eight other states filed lawsuits in their own state courts, according to the New York state attorney general.
The complaint alleges Meta created addictive services for young users and then deployed "harmful and psychologically manipulative product features" into the products.
The complaint calls "dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms," "likes" on posts, visual filter features "known to promote young users' body dysmorphia," and "infinite scroll" features that are "designed to discourage young users' attempts to self-regulate and disengage with Meta's Platforms."
The states allege Meta has "continued to deny and downplay" research about links between its platforms and psychological and physical harm.
Instead, the states allege, Meta published "misleading reports boasting a deceptively low incidents of user harm."
The states' lawsuit also alleges Meta violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, by collecting personal data of teen users without parents' consent.
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement, "We share the attorneys general's commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced more than 30 tools to support teens and their families."
"We're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path," the spokesperson added.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
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