Lawsuit reveals secret desire for preteens on Instagram
Meta Secretly ’Coveted and Pursued’ Preteens Not Supposed to be on Instagram: Unsealed Lawsuit Complaint
An unsealed lawsuit claims that Meta was well aware that it had legions of Instagram users under the supposed minimum age of 13.
“Tweens want access to Instagram, and they lie about their age to get it now,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in an internal company chat in November 2021, according to the lawsuit.
According to The New York Times, a month after making that statement, Mosseri told a Senate panel, “If a child is under the age of 13, they are not permitted on Instagram.”
The lawsuit was initially filed with the evidence against Meta redacted but an updated complaint was released last week, the Times reported.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by the attorney generals of 33 states, said Meta has known for years that it had users below the age of 13 and was proud of that.
“Within the company, Meta’s actual knowledge that millions of Instagram users are under the age of 13 is an open secret that is routinely documented, rigorously analyzed and confirmed and zealously protected from disclosure to the public,” the complaint said.
“Despite its public-facing claims that users under the age of 13 are not allowed on Instagram, including in congressional testimony provided by Meta executive Davis in September 2021, Meta’s private internal documents reveal that Meta has coveted and pursued the under-13 Instagram user demographic for years,” the lawsuit said, referring to September 2021 testimony by Meta executive Antigone Davis.
The lawsuit quotes what it said was “an internal Meta document from 2018” that said, “[W]e do very little to keep U13s off our platform.”
It said a chart used to measure Instagram’s “Monthly Active People Penetration” showed 20 to 60 percent penetration in the 11- to 13-year-old age range.
Meta “can estimate that there were 4M[illion] people under 13 in 2015 on IG [in the US]. This represents around 30% of all 10-12 year[] old[s] in the US,” the lawsuit quoted a Meta document as saying.
It quoted an internal email from 2018 as saying, “The lifetime value of a 13 y/o teen is roughly $270 per teen.”
The lawsuit said the company did not want to know if users were under 13.
“Meta has a policy of automatically ignoring certain external reports that Instagram users are under 13 years old. After Meta receives a report that an Instagram user is under 13 years old, Meta’s policy is to allow the user to continue using their Instagram account and disregard the report if the account does not contain a user bio or photos,” the lawsuit said.
It said Meta knew that between 2019 and 2023, more than 1.1 million Instagram users were under 13, but the platform disabled the accounts of “only a fraction” of them.
The lawsuit said Meta possessed a survey that showed out of 3,983 children responding, 22 percent of kids between 6 to 9 and 35 percent of those between 10 and 12 used Instagram.
In an opinion piece Saturday in the New York Post, Rikki Schlott wrote that “Instagram has devastated youth mental health — and, according to newly unsealed court filings, its parent company Meta knew exactly what they were doing.”
She said the $270 lifetime value the lawsuit said Meta put on a 13-year-old user was a global average, writing that “American teens are 10 times more valuable.”
In picking through the vast haul of internal Meta data revealed in the lawsuit, Schlott emphasized that “Meta’s own data also revealed a third of teen girls say Instagram makes their body image worse, and that 17% said it worsened eating issues.”
“It’s time the truth comes out,” she wrote. “And, as a Gen Zer who has been on social media since my tween years, I’m heartened to see a bipartisan coalition of nearly every attorney general in the United States banding together in defense of youth mental health.
“Companies like Meta who are knowingly perpetuating suffering need to be held to account — not just for the teens they’ve harmed but also for the next generation who might be spared the same fate.”
States in the lawsuit against Meta were Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, according to a news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“Our bipartisan investigation has arrived at a solemn conclusion: Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits,” Bonta said in a statement.
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The post Meta Secretly ‘Coveted and Pursued’ Preteens Not Supposed to be on Instagram: Unsealed Lawsuit Complaint appeared first on The Western Journal.
What evidence does the lawsuit cite to support its claims that Meta knowingly allowed preteens under the age of 13 to use Instagram?
In a recent unsealed lawsuit, it has been claimed that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, knowingly allowed preteens under the age of 13 to use the platform. The lawsuit, filed by the attorney generals of 33 states, alleges that Meta was fully aware of the presence of underage users on Instagram and actively pursued this demographic despite public claims to the contrary.
The lawsuit cites evidence such as internal company chats and documents to support its claims. In an internal company chat from November 2021, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, stated that preteens want access to the platform and often lie about their age to gain access. However, just a month later, Mosseri told a Senate panel that children under the age of 13 were not allowed on Instagram.
The complaint also highlights a chart used by Meta to measure Instagram’s “Monthly Active People Penetration”, which showed 20 to 60 percent penetration in the 11 to 13-year-old age range. This indicates that Meta was fully aware of the significant presence of preteens on the platform.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Meta has a policy of automatically ignoring reports that users are under 13 years old. Even when such reports are received, Meta allows the users to continue using their Instagram account if it does not contain a user bio or photos. This demonstrates a lack of genuine effort on Meta’s part to prohibit underage users from accessing the platform.
The lawsuit also reveals that Meta possessed a survey in which 22 percent of children between the ages of 6 to 9 and 35 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 12 reported using Instagram. This further substantiates the claim that Meta actively targeted and pursued the under-13 user demographic.
These allegations have raised concerns about the impact of Instagram on the mental health of young users. An opinion piece in the New York Post highlights internal Meta data revealed in the lawsuit, which shows that a third of teen girls believe Instagram worsens their body image and 17 percent claim it worsens eating issues.
The lawsuit has garnered significant attention, with attorney generals from 33 states joining forces to hold Meta accountable for the alleged harms caused to youth mental health. The bipartisan coalition emphasizes the need for companies like Meta to be held responsible for their actions and to prioritize the well-being of young users.
In conclusion, the unsealed lawsuit against Meta raises serious concerns about the company’s knowledge and handling of underage users on Instagram. The allegations indicate a disregard for age restrictions and suggest that Meta prioritized profits over the well-being of young users. The lawsuit shines a spotlight on the importance of protecting youth mental health and holding tech companies accountable for their actions.
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