Tracker Detail
People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
Name | Type | Government | Date Initiated | Status | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc. | Litigation | United States | Oct 24, 2023 | Complaint filed | Nov 27, 2023 |
Summary
The multistate suit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. It is the culmination of an investigation launched into Instagram in 2021 after Meta (then-Facebook) announced its plans to develop “Instagram Kids.” Following intense backlash from state attorneys general, lawmakers, and children’s advocacy groups, Meta quickly abandoned its plans for Instagram Kids in lieu of opt-in “parental supervision tools.”
The complaint alleges that Meta violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule of 1995 (COPPA) by failing to provide adequate or sufficient notice to parents about the information it collects from children and how it uses that information. Meta also failed to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting or using children’s personal information. (COPPA defines children as all individual users under the age of 13.)
It additionally alleges that Meta engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of various state consumer protection laws, including misrepresenting that its products are not harmful to young users and not designed to encourage addictive use as well as engaging in unfair and unconscionable acts and practices by designing its social media platforms to include features that it knew to be psychologically and physically harmful to young users.
Updates
November 27, 2023. The California Attorney General released an unredacted version of the complaint.
