Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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This week, Ohio Attorney General David Yost sued the company formerly known as Facebook for securities fraud, citing deceptive practices that posed a threat to the public and children.
Yost, who recently made national headlines for a pair of high-profile human trafficking stings, filed the suit on behalf of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and Facebook investors.
Officially, Yost has accused Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsAp, and dozens more lesser known social media platforms – of causing OPERS investors financial damage via a massive dip in stock value.
However, Yost said he also plans to use the suit to force Meta, who he believes knowingly misled the public about the negative effects its products have on the health of its users and the steps the company had taken to prevent such harm, into instituting reforms.
“Facebook said it was looking out for our children and weeding out online trolls, but in reality was creating misery and divisiveness for profit,” Yost said in a release. “We are not people to Mark Zuckerberg, we are the product and we are being used against each other out of greed.”
Meta Spokesperson Joe Osborne, through a statement made to news website The Verge, said the company views the suit as “without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”
Yost said he found a basis for his lawsuit in the massive Wall Street Journal investigative project, a collection of articles known as “The Facebook Files” that accused the company of failing to correct such issues as the spread of misinformation and extremism and the mental toll Meta products cause for its users, all in an effort to ensure greater profits.
Whether as Facebook or Meta, the company has long faced bipartisan criticism from national political leaders and has been forced into Congress and court for numerous hearings, and all while stock prices suffered to the tune of $100 billion.
This is the second time Yost has applied pressure to Meta over its dealings with children. In May, he was one of 44 state attorneys general to send a letter to Mark Zuckerberg urging the Meta CEO to halt plans for a children’s version of Instagram.
Yost has urged other Facebook investors to join the suit.