A class action lawsuit has been filed in an Australian court against Meta's Facebook and Instagram social media platforms, alleging they exposed children to harmful content and kept them addicted through algorithms.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court -- Australia's second-highest -- by law firm MinterEllison this month. It could be the first in the country to blame social media for harming its users, particularly children and teenagers.
The class action suit has been filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs, who allege they were harmed by Meta while they were under the age of 18, and are seeking compensation.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a suppression order on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal the identity of the applicants and the statement of claims.
Meta in August agreed to pay $18 billion to settle with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims it designed social media to addict children.
In addition, a judge in the U.S. state of New Mexico also ordered the tech giant to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company misled consumers, in a case linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Meta had argued that a penalty in the billions of dollars risked violating its constitutional rights, urging the judge to cap its penalty at $3.45 billion. It later said it planned to appeal the ruling.
This recent lawsuit comes amid rising tensions between Australia and Big Tech after a world-first ban on social media for children under 16, and newly proposed rules that could let users switch off algorithm-driven content on their feeds.
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