Parents of teenager sue Meta after alleging that she suffered eating disorder because of Instagram addiction
Meta
Alleging their daughter developed an Instagram addiction that led to an eating disorder and other mental health struggles, the parents of a teenager living in New York have sued Meta.
According to thelawsuit, Alexis started using Instagram two years younger than the platform's required minimum age of 13.
She did not inform her parents Kathleen and Jeff Spence as per a court filing in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
She soon developed "addiction, anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, and, ultimately, suicidal ideation."
Her parents have claimed they "were emotionally and financially harmed by Meta's addictive design and continued and harmful distribution and/or provision of multiple Instagram accounts to their minor child."
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Kathleen Spence told ABC News "The fact that Alexis is here is truly a miracle because we fought tooth-and-nail for her."
"We did everything we possibly could for her. We got her the help that she needed on multiple levels, and there were times when we were very concerned for her safety."
"When I'm 11 years old, what am I to do but keep looking at this content?" Spence said.
"And when you're being told every day, 'This is how [to] be pretty ... this is what you're supposed to look like,' what am I to think? I was a child," she added.
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Frances Haugen, a former product manager at the tech company, had also claimed that Meta compromises with policies to earn profit.
According to Kathleen, "When Alexis first started going on Instagram without our consent or knowledge at 11 years old, we didn't know what was going on."
"We just know that our daughter was disappearing. Slowly, piece by piece, we were losing our confident, loving child, and she was becoming depressed, angry, withdrawn."
Haugen's leaked documents suggested executives knew their platforms could fuel hate speech and damage the mental health of young people.
(With inputs from agencies)
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