Meta sued over 'addictive' features targeting children

TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Tuesday, October 24.

J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.

Stocks were in the green to close out today’s session. The Dow closed up over 200 points , the Nasdaq closed up almost a full percent and the S&P closed seven tenths of a percent higher. 

Investors are keeping a close watch on the crypto market after Bitcoin surpassed 35,000 dollars. This was the crypto’s largest single day jump in over a year.

And Wall Street is also reacting to a batch of strong earnings reports… Coca Cola, Spotify and General Motors all reported better than expected results today. Investors are awaiting results from Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft later this evening. Other big tech names like Amazon and Meta are on deck for later this week.

Speaking of Meta - the social media giant is once again in hot water. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is being sued by 42 attorneys general for allegedly having features on its Facebook and Instagram platforms that are addictive and purposefully aimed at kids. The lawsuit also claims Meta violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal data on users under the age of 13 without parental consent.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called out Meta by saying “While Meta has publicly denied and downplayed these harmful effects, it cannot credibly plead ignorance. Meta’s own internal research documents show its awareness that its products harm young users.”But this isn’t the first time Meta has faced lawsuit from dozens of attorneys general. In 2020, along with the FTC, 48 states and territories sued the company over antitrust practices.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.