Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the company previously known as Facebook, testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in October. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
11/18/2021 05:37 PM EST
Bipartisan state attorneys general from across the country announced on Thursday they are investigating Meta, the company previously known as Facebook, over its Instagram platform reportedly harming young users in possible violation of consumer protection laws.
The investigation includes state attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont. Earlier this year, attorneys general from nearly every state also called on Facebook to abandon its plans for a kid-friendly version of Instagram — a project the company put on ice this fall in response to public outrage.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said the states felt compelled to investigate because the social network is treating children as “mere commodities.”
Timing of the probe: The sweeping probe is just the latest political action taken against the social media giant, which is also under investigation by the Senate Commerce consumer protection panel and under scrutiny from a host of committees and congressional offices across both chambers.
That heat was prompted by recent revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who turned over thousands of pages of documents detailing how much the social network has known about the...
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