Meta's Negligence Exposed: Prioritizing Profit Over Underage User Safety

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is facing a legal complaint from the attorneys general of 33 states, accusing the social media giant of unlawfully collecting data from millions of users under the age of 13. The complaint alleges that Meta routinely documented the presence of underage users on Instagram but disabled only a fraction of their accounts, while continuing to collect their personal information without parental permission. The states are seeking civil penalties that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. The complaint also accuses Meta of failing to prioritize effective age-checking systems and knowingly allowing underage users to lie about their age to create Instagram accounts. Meta has responded by stating that the complaint mischaracterizes their work and that they have measures in place to remove underage accounts.