In recent legal developments, Meta, the parent company overseeing Instagram and Facebook, faces allegations from an unsealed legal complaint asserting that it deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive for children. Reports on Monday disclosed that the lawsuit contends Meta knowingly permitted underage users to maintain accounts, collecting personal data and selling it to advertisers.
The federal lawsuit, initially filed by attorneys general from 33 states in October, spanned jurisdictions from California to Wisconsin. Subsequently, the recent revelation of the complaint provides additional insights, claiming that Meta employed highly manipulative algorithms and technological tools to harm young users on Facebook and Instagram.
The legal document accuses Meta of being aware of these issues but choosing not to disclose them. Despite receiving millions of complaints, Meta allegedly took limited action, disabling only a fraction of the identified accounts. Internal company documents cited by media reports described the prevalence of underage users as an “open secret” within Meta.
According to the complaint, in 2021 alone, Meta received over 402,000 reports of users under 13 on Instagram. However, the tech company disabled only 164,000 accounts, leaving a reported backlog of up to 2.5 million accounts of younger children awaiting action.
The 233-page complaint emphasizes that attorneys general argue the compulsive use of Facebook or Instagram by teens and children can result in physical and mental harm. Grounded in snippets of emails, earnings call transcripts, and other internal communications, the case presents these documents as evidence of how Meta values the personal information and time of young users.
In response to the allegations, a Meta spokesperson, as reported, issued a statement on Monday contending that the complaint “mischaracterizes our work using selective quotes and cherry-picked documents.” The unfolding legal proceedings shed light on the broader implications of Meta’s platform practices and their potential impact on young users.
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