Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller, has joined a nationwide investigation into Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, for providing and promoting Instagram use to children and young adults, despite knowing that such use is associated with physical and mental health issues. Miller is the latest to join a bipartisan group of attorneys general from across the nation in examining whether the company has violated state consumer protection laws and put the public at risk. “I’m increasingly concerned about how Instagram’s algorithms capture the attention of children and how its content affects their physical, emotional and mental well-being,” Miller says. Their investigation is targeting the techniques used by Meta to increase the frequency and duration of engagement by young users and the resulting harms. Miller’s announcement comes on the heels of reports about Meta’s own research that shows using Instagram is associated with increased risks of physical and mental harms for young people, including depression, eating disorders and even suicide. Miller has long been concerned about the impacts of social media on the youth of Iowa. In May, a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general urged Facebook to abandon its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13.
