A federal lawsuit filed by 41 US states and the District of Columbia accused the tech giant of negatively impacting the mental health of young children due to its addictive nature and content.

The joint lawsuit, led by Colorado and California, was filed on Tuesday by 33 states in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. On the same day, eight other states and the District of Columbia filed separate lawsuits, Mashable reports.

"Social media companies, including Meta, have contributed to a national youth mental health crisis, and they must be held accountable," stated New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of 33 attorneys general who signed the lawsuit.

As reported by BBC News, a spokesperson for Meta explained that the company told attorneys general that its platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger, are committed to "providing teens with safe, positive experiences online" and had "already introduced over 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 continued.

The lawsuit follows an investigation regarding the company's practices in 2021 by several state prosecutors after a whistleblower, Frances Haugan, testified in the US that the company was aware that its products would be harmful to children.

However, Meta is refuting the claim that Instagram is harming the mental health of young people.

"It is simply not accurate that this research demonstrates Instagram is "toxic" for teen girls," Pratiti Raychoudhury, vice president and head of research at Meta, said at the time.

"The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced," Ms Raychoudhury said.

While there are studies suggesting Facebook's growth is not linked to psychological harm, other research notes that spending too much time on social media can be harmful to young people's mental health.

For instance, one coroner in the UK looking at the death of a young girl, Molly Russell, found that she died while suffering from the "negative effects of online content."

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