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The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) filed a personal injury lawsuit against Meta, Inc., the parent company of Instagram, on behalf of Alexis Spence and her parents, Kathleen and Jeffrey Spence.
Officials said that the lawsuit was filed on Monday, June 6 in US District Court in the Northern District of California, which the organization announced on Tuesday, June 7.
According to the complaint, Alexis Spence joined Instagram as a child and it resulted in anxiety, depression, self-harm, an eating disorder, and suicidal thoughts.
Alexis Spence was “a confident and happy child, who loved reading, writing, and helping people and animals,” it states, noting that she opened her first Instagram account at the age of 11, according to the SMVLC.
"She dreamt about becoming a veterinarian, was active in singing competitions and theater, enjoyed being in the spotlight, and looked for opportunities to shine.”
The lawsuit alleges that “Meta knowingly targets pre-teen users with a product designed to be addictive and that Instagram algorithms purposely direct young users to harmful content.”
It is alleged that the tween opened her first account without her parents’ consent, and “almost immediately” she was directed to sites that were promoting anorexia, negative body images, and self-harm, while learning from other users how to conceal the account from her parents.
She eventually opened multiple Instagram accounts, including one that allegedly had no inbox attached to it, proving that there was no proper verification process in place to ensure that children did not join the service.
Attorneys claim that Alexis Spence developed an Instagram addiction that led to her developing an eating disorder due to a dubious algorithm, which “directed her to content which increasingly included underweight models, unhealthy eating and eating disorder content, eventually leading to mental health problems and thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation.”
The SMVLC noted that Meta’s own documentation confirmed that “66 (percent) of teen girls on IG experience negative social comparison.”
According to the SMVLC, “as a result of Alexis’ addiction to Instagram, she had to undergo professional counseling, in-patient programs, out-patient programs, participate in eating disorder programs and will likely require help in the form of a service dog for the rest of her life, as well as ongoing medical attention to ensure she does not digress.”
It comes after the release of The Facebook Papers in late 2021, which uncovered the fact that the social media giant knew that its platforms were impacting body image and the mental health of young people, specifically teenage girls.
The lawsuit was first reported by NBC News.
“Meta has consistently and knowingly placed its own profit over the health and welfare of its teen and underage users,” Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center said in a statement.
“These documents, including some that have not been previously disclosed to the public, show that Meta’s senior leadership knew that Instagram harms kids but consciously and callously chose profits over human life.
“The social media giant spent millions of dollars researching and developing product features to attract and retain a steady stream of pre-teen users despite warnings from Meta employees that its products were addictive and harmful to its users.”
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