Meta Hurt Kids, Illegally Took Their Personal Info, 'Damning' Court Docs Allege

MENLO PARK, CA — California’s attorney general weighed in Monday on a recently unsealed federal complaint against Meta, calling the unredacted revelations “damning.”

The complaint was filed last month by 33 attorneys general and alleges the social media giant designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that are addictive to children and teens, hurting them physically and mentally.

“Meta knows that what it is doing is bad for kids — period,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “Thanks to our unredacted federal complaint, it is now there in black and white, and it is damning.”

The unsealed complaint details how CEO Mark Zuckerberg vetoed a proposal to ban image filters that simulate the effects of plastic surgery, despite internal pushback and expert consensus that the filters are detrimental to users’ mental health, especially for women and girls, according to Bonta’s office.

Meta stated publicly that it did not prioritize users’ time spent on its platforms, but internally the company set explicit goals to increase time on social media and tracked engagement, including among teens, the news release said.

Meta knows its platforms are used by millions of children under 13, including, at one point, roughly 30 percent of all 10- to 12-year-olds, according to Bonta’s office, which added that Meta illegally collects children's personal information. This is despite Zuckerberg testifying to Congress in 2021 that Meta kicks children younger than 13 off its platforms, the news release said.

The company received over 1.1 million reports of children under 13 on Instagram since early 2019 but “disabled only a fraction” of the accounts, The New York Times reported.

The attorneys general are seeking injunctive and monetary relief, according to Bonta’s office. Meta could be subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in civil penalties in the case, the Times reported.

Bonta alleges that Meta violated federal and state laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.

In a prepared statement, a Meta spokesperson accused the attorneys general of misrepresenting the company.

“We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and we have over 30 tools to support them and their parents," the spokesperson said.

"We’ve spent a decade working on these issues and hiring people who have dedicated their careers to keeping young people safe and supported online. The complaint mischaracterizes our work using selective quotes and cherry-picked documents."