LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced on Thursday that his office's lawsuit against Meta was allowed to proceed, which he called a "victory for the citizens of Arkansas."
"This is a victory for the citizens of Arkansas, especially our children, whom Meta has misled about the addictive and harmful consequences of using Meta’s platforms," AG Griffin said. "The court’s order makes clear that the State of Arkansas has the right to sue Meta in state court under our state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Silicon Valley has now been served a message that their profits cannot be built on the backs of Arkansas’s youth."
The ruling came from a Polk County Circuit Court, which allowed parts of Griffin's lawsuit against the social media giant Meta to proceed.
This decision comes after Griffin sued Meta last year and accused the company of violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He alleged that Meta "misled the public about the platform's safety and addictiveness."
"The common theme is deception. And the consequences of that deception is endangering Arkansans, particularly our children, our youth," said AG Griffin at a March 2023 press conference where he and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the initial lawsuit.
Gov. Sanders said that the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act prohibits companies from "engaging in false, deceptive, business practices." She believes that this falsehood comes as social media companies "claim that their platforms are beneficial, non-addictive, and private."
At the March 2023 press conference, the governor went on to claim that Meta played a role in a mental health crisis among teens.
"This lawsuit against Meta will be the first of its kind by any state anywhere in the country," said Governor Sanders.
The lawsuit claims that Meta has "lied" about its content, which Gov. Sanders and AG Griffin believe has caused "severe depression [and] loneliness " among teens in the US.
"Meta has repeatedly claimed that its platforms are non-addictive and non-threatening to young people's mental health. Those are lies and Arkansas will hold the company accountable," said Gov. Sanders.