Ohio Agency Sues Facebook, Claims The Platform Harms Children

OHIO — Ohio is suing Facebook over claims the social media giant's platform is harmful to children and senior executives misled the public about the corrosive impact of the website.

"Facebook said it was looking out for our children and weeding out online trolls, but in reality was creating misery and divisiveness for profit," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday. "We are not people to Mark Zuckerberg, we are the product and we are being used against each other out of greed."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) and Facebook investors. The lawsuit argues that between April 29 and Oct. 21, 2021, Facebook and its senior leadership violated federal securities laws by misleading the public about the negative effects it product has on children.

A Meta spokesperson sent the following statement to Patch: "This suit is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”

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The lawsuit stems from both a Wall Street Journal investigation and the public testimony of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Yost said the two strands together prove that Facebook "chooses profit over safety." Here's what he argued in the lawsuit:

"Frances Haugen, came forward with internal documents showing that Defendants were aware that Facebook’s platforms facilitate dissention, illegal activity, and violent extremism, and cause significant harm to users, especially children, but Facebook refused to correct these issues. All told, these disclosures erased more than $100 billion in shareholder value and subjected Facebook to immense reputational harm."

Yost argues Zuckerberg and other senior executives misled the public about the safety, security and privacy of Facebook platforms and then admitted in private documents that "We are not actually doing what we say we do publicly."

For OPERS, Facebook's black eye caused its stock to be devalued, losing the fund money. Yost wants to recover that lost value while holding Facebook to reformed standards.

Facebook and Yost have sparred before. In May, Ohio's attorney general joined a letter sent to Zuckerberg urging him to abandon plans for an Instagram app aimed at children. The company ultimately abandoned the project, but Yost feels Facebook continues to try and groom a new generation of users.

Yost will ask the court to appoint OPERS as the lead plaintiff in his Facebook securities fraud lawsuit. He said he welcomes other Facebook investors to join his action.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California and has been shared in its entirety online.

Facebook did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment on the lawsuit.