"We share the attorneys general's commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement. "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."

Several of the practices the attorneys general focus on for Meta are similar to those exercised by other social media businesses, such as designing algorithms to keep users engaged.

Skrmetti told reporters that the Meta lawsuits are just one part of "an industry-wide investigation."

"This is not just about Meta, but as one of the biggest players and as an entity where there's clear evidence of misleading the public and making deliberate decisions that hurt kids, I think it's appropriate that we lead off with this particular lawsuit," he said.

Last year, a bipartisan group of state AGs over similar child online safety concerns.

Skrmetti said that the multistate lawsuit against Meta could be "a vehicle for settlement talks across the industry" — or, he added, "it could take individual litigation driving each company into good behavior over time."

Schwalb said that while he doesn't think Meta is the only company trying to keep users' attention with its features, "they do it very, very effectively and to the great detriment of millions of young people and tens of thousands of young people here in the District."

"All human beings are susceptible to FOMO," Schwalb said, referring to the fear of missing out. "But particularly 12- to 14-, 15-, 16-year-old kids. They're the ones who are really worried about missing out. All of that is part of the built-in DNA that Meta uses to keep people hooked."

The broad coalition of bipartisan attorneys general underscores the wide-ranging interest from law enforcers on both sides of the aisle in consumer protection issues like this one. President Joe Biden has also made it a point to discuss the priority of in his State of the Union.

"I think when you find an issue like this, it's a good opportunity for AGs to link arms across party [lines] to try to make America a safer place," Schwalb said.

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