Meta Platforms, the famed technology corporation and parent of Facebook and Instagram is in hot water following a string of lawsuits from 41 states and the District of Columbia. According to the documents, Meta has purposefully built its platforms with features that are addictive and dangerous for younger users. More frightening, however, are allegations from New Mexico in an additional suit that state the platforms “recommend sexual content to underage users and promote minors’ accounts to apparent child predators,” (Wall Street Journal, 2023).
Young people and user behavior on Facebook and Instagram.
The suits in both state and federal courts claim that Meta deceived the public in relation to the dangers on its platforms for young users, and intentionally marketed its products to children under the age of 13 (WSJ, 2023). This practice is a violation of both Meta’s community guidelines and federal law. The lawsuits from the states’ attorneys general were filed with the goal of forcing Meta into altering or eliminating product features that they claim put children at risk. State attorneys general from Tennessee and Colorado, a Republican and Democrat respectively, highlighted the bipartisanship associated with the investigation, naming it a “vital battleground for teen mental health,” (WSJ, 2023).
In a quote from the federal suit, it states, “Despite overwhelming internal research, independent expert analysis, and publicly available data that its social media platforms harm young users, Meta still refuses to abandon its use of known harmful features – and has instead redoubled its efforts to misrepresent, conceal, and downplay the impact of those features on young users’ mental and physical health.”
Yes, it appears that the company may have known about the poor effects social media poses on mental health long before the first suit was ever filed.
In 2021, former employee Frances Haugen leaked thousands of records focusing on the platforms’ potential harms – documents that are now being used as partial evidence in the investigation. Meta’s research also included hundreds of pages of data relating to teen user behavior and how the company could leverage these vulnerabilities to its advantage.
When you think things couldn’t be any more bleak, they are.
Following the aforementioned litigation, the state of New Mexico has alleged in an additional lawsuit that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms promote explicit content to minors and present underage accounts to potential child predators.
Their evidence? The New Mexico Attorney General’s office employed an investigation that set up decoy accounts with AI-generated images portraying teens and preteens. According to the suit, sexual content was recommended to those accounts in staggering numbers, and profiles were flooded with “explicit messages and sexual propositions from others” on Meta’s in-app messaging services (WSJ, 2023). In one instance, a profile pretending to be a 13-year-old girl received thousands of adult followers who sent her both invitations to join private group chats and explicit content of children and adults. Within a matter of two days, the account also received recommendations to follow other accounts that openly post pornography, the suit claims (WSJ, 2023).
Though Meta has claimed to position child safety as a top priority and established a task force following a Journal investigation in June, the evidence at hand has caused many people to ponder if there really is a way to stay protected online.
Nearly everything we do in modern society requires internet access and participation in the online sphere, so we would be remiss to tell you to eliminate social media and the World Wide Web in its entirety. But in the era where children are spending more time on the internet than ever before, how do we begin to protect them?
Strategies to keep children safe online.
The US Department of Justice has created a list of practices to consider when allowing children and teenagers to access the Internet. While this list was conceived during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the guidelines hold true in 2024.
Have open conversations about online safety and develop a plan in case any situations arise. Set strong boundaries, teach children to look out for red flags, and be honest (yet age-appropriate) about the dangers related to the Internet and social media.
Monitor your child’s online activity. Supervise their usage by checking in on their profiles and page posts, and make sure you have access to all passwords. The DOJ also recommends keeping devices in common areas of the home and setting strict screentime limits.
Research all games, applications, and other programs before allowing your children to use them. Pay close attention to apps or sites that use end-to-end encryption, direct messaging, video calls, and user anonymity. These are common ways for child predators to get access to your children.
Set parental controls for all applications on all devices. You can control what your children do and do not see, but remember to keep tabs on their usage. Children are known for finding ways to sneak around the rules their parents set in place.
Teach them about the risks involved with sharing personal information online. Explain that images on the internet last forever, and there’s no going back after hitting “send.” Plus, sharing personal information with strangers online gives potential predators the fuel to create a false sense of closeness with your child. This only opens another opportunity for young people to be put in harm’s way.
Make sure they understand that “no” is a complete sentence. Help them understand the importance of setting their own boundaries and protecting their bodies.
Recognize the signs of abuse, especially if your children are spending an unusual amount of time online, attempting to hide internet activity, or are exhibiting changes in behavior.
Encourage children to reach out to trusted adults. Your child may be too embarrassed to approach you about inappropriate activity or abuse online. Teaching them to be honest with you and other adults without the fear of getting in trouble is a vital aspect of online safety.
If you see something, say something. If your child informs you about any suspicious online activity, take it with utmost sincerity and alert law enforcement officials immediately. You may be the reason another child never falls victim to abuse online.
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