Key Takeaways
- Meta faces a major lawsuit alleging it ignored sex trafficking and child safety risks.
- Court filings reveal a former “17-strike” policy for prostitution-related accounts.
- The company now claims to use a “one strike” policy for human exploitation.
- Meta faces growing global legal challenges beyond this US lawsuit.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, knowingly allowed sex trafficking content to remain on its platforms despite repeated violations, according to newly unsealed court documents. The allegations are part of a massive California lawsuit involving over 1,800 plaintiffs, including children, parents, school districts, and state attorneys general.
The lawsuit accuses social media giants of pursuing “growth at all costs” while ignoring the damage their products cause to children’s mental and physical health. Alongside Meta, the suit targets Google’s YouTube, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Snap’s Snapchat.
Shocking 17-Strike Policy Revealed
Former Instagram safety chief Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified that she was shocked to discover Meta’s “17-strike” policy for accounts involved in human sex trafficking. “You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended,” she stated, calling the threshold “very, very high” by industry standards.
Platform Harms and Company Response
Court documents allege Meta was aware of serious platform harms including millions of adult strangers contacting minors, features that worsened teen mental health issues, and inadequate removal of content related to suicide, eating disorders, and child sexual abuse.
In response, Meta told USA Today it has replaced the 17-strike system with a “one strike” policy that immediately removes accounts involved in human exploitation.
Growing Scrutiny and Global Challenges
The company faces increasing scrutiny in the US, including recent reports about Meta’s AI chatbots engaging minors in inappropriate conversations, which prompted new safeguards for teen accounts.
Globally, Meta confronts expanding legal challenges. Russia designated the company an “extremist organization” in 2022, while the EU has hit Meta with a €797 million antitrust fine related to Facebook Marketplace, plus separate cases in Spain, France, Germany, and Norway covering copyright, data protection, and targeted advertising.
