Attorneys general from 33 states, including New York AG Letitia James, have filed a lawsuit against tech giant Meta alleging it designed harmful features that contributed to the youth mental health crisis. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that Mark Zuckerberg’s company knowingly created addictive and “psychologically manipulative” features targeted at young people while falsely assuring the public it was safe to use. Some of the features, they say, include infinite scrolling, filters that change a person’s face or body, notifications that call young people back to Meta’s social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and more. “Meta has profited from children’s pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem,” Ms James said in a statement. “Social media companies, including Meta, have contributed to a national youth mental health crisis and they must be held accountable,” she added. Multiple studies have shown that children and teenagers’ prolonged exposure to social media can have negative impacts on their mental health due to disrupting their sleep, exposing them to bullying, rumour spreading, unrealistic views of people’s lives and more Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that Meta internally knew the impact of social media on young people but denied and downplayed the potential harm anyway in order to maximize profit – something a Facebook whistleblower testified to Congress about in 2021. The lawsuit seeks to force Meta to drastically change some of its design features that they allege are harmful to young people as well as impose financial penalties under each state’s specific consumer protection law. In a statement provided to The Independent, a spokesperson for Meta said, “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.” Some of the “tools” Meta has implemented to help young people include age verification, preventing content that promotes harmful behaviours, giving users the option to hide “like” counts, prompting young people to take breaks or set timers and more. “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 added. The lawsuit is the latest action taken against tech giants as concern about the impact of social media on young people grows. Read More People’s Instagram posts are showing where they are not expected Google and Meta withdraw from upcoming Web Summit Mark Zuckerberg uses Meta’s new AI Ray-Bans to braid daughter’s hair WhatsApp update will change how you log in forever Instagram Threads adds yet more features as it tries to take over from Twitter Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake

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Apple is significantly increasing the price of its TV streaming service. The cost of Apple TV Plus will go up by around a third: from $6.99 to $9.99, or from £6.99 to £8.99. The annual price has a similar increase, from $69 to $99. Apple will also raise the cost of other services: Apple Arcade will go from $4.99 to $6.99, and Apple News Plus will go from $9.99 to $12.99. The Apple One bundle that wraps those services into one subscription will also get increases, with the individual membership going from $16.95 to $19.95. Many Apple subscriptions will stay at the same price, however. Apple Music, Fitness Plus and the premium iCloud Plus subscription will not get price rises. Subscribers will see the new prices go into effect in 30 days, after their next subscription. Apple is among the last of its competitors to substantially increase prices in recent months. Both Netflix and Disney have also raised their monthly subscriptions, with both citing the need to make more programmes and increased costs. The change from Apple comes ahead of the publication of its fourth quarter earnings next week. In recent years, Apple has looked to its services business to help its growth, amid slowdowns in some other businesses. It also after a separate report that Apple will completely overhaul its TV app later this year. The change, planned for around December, will consolidate the TV app to focus more on streaming services and bring a look more similar to that on Netflix, Bloomberg reported. At the moment, Apple’s TV app includes a significant focus on downloading Movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store. The new design is expected to bring more Apple TV Plus to a more central place in the app, as well as changing its menus to make it easier to find its programmes and those from others. Read More The Apple Watch feature everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived What to expect Apple’s surprise, spooky upcoming launch Apple announces surprise event: ‘Scary fast’

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