Meta and TikTok are once again in hot water for allegedly failing to protect kids or restricting their use of the platforms.
According to Reuters, the Collective Defense Institute, a consumer rights group in Brazil, has filed two lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, and Kwai, another Chinese short video site, totaling three billion reais ($525.8 million).
The lawsuits cite some of the (many) research indicating the dangers of social media use. It orders Meta and co. to offer unambiguous warnings about how platform addiction can harm kids’ mental health. It also requires companies to spell out specific data protection methods.
“It is urgent that measures be adopted in order to change the way the algorithm works, the processing of data from users under 18, and the way in which teenagers aged 13 and over are supervised and their accounts created, in order to ensure a safer, healthier experience…as is already the case in developed countries,” said Lillian Salgado, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs.
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This is not Meta or TikTok’s first lawsuit over minor safety. In late 2023, New Mexico sued Meta for failing to safeguard children, alleging that both Facebook and Instagram promoted sexual content to minors.
One month later, Meta stated in an internal letter from 2021 that over 100,000 kid users were harassed daily. However, Meta management rejected recommended algorithm redesigns.
Earlier this month, 14 attorneys general accused TikTok of “falsely claiming its platform is safe for young people.” These are just two of the many lawsuits launched against social media companies for failing to protect young users.
Meta recently launched teen accounts on Instagram, which are necessary for any users under the age of 16.
They have stricter privacy settings and must obtain parental clearance for any modifications. However, these accounts are not currently available in Brazil, although Meta believes they will be soon.
Meta, in a statement,, said it wants “young people to have safe and age-appropriate experiences on our apps, and we have been working on these issues for over a decade, developing more than 50 tools, resources, and features to support teens and their guardians.”
Brazil has lately spat with Elon Musk’s X (previously Twitter) over its refusal to delete profiles that the government claims spread electoral falsehoods. The corporation subsequently paid a fine of 28 million reais ($4.9 million).
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