Shareholder advocate James McRitchie has filed a class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms accusing the tech giant of prioritizing profits over investors and society.
The October 4 lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, detailed how Facebook’s algorithm was allegedly changed to make it “an angrier place,” in order to drive more traffic and revenue. McRitchie argued that this has led to harsher political discourse around the world.
The dissident also argued that Meta has failed to invest in measures to prevent its platform from being used to promote modern slavery, ethnic violence, organized crime and vaccine disinformation.
McRitchie criticized the company’s board members for refusing to account for the impact its products have on mental health despite internal reports detailing how Instagram had “created the perfect storm of mental health issues for its users.”
“I am a long-time investor in Meta, but I also have diversified holdings that depend upon a healthy global economy,” he declared, adding that it is important that the companies he owns “not engage in practices that threaten the financial return of [his] entire portfolio.”