TikTok makes 98% of its income from ads personalized by using scrollers’ data. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is in hot water for children’s data comprising a chunk of this statistic. Yesterday, Meta announced its intention to appeal the ruling that US regulators may try to reduce the amount that money social media companies profit off of under-18 users — but it doesn’t look like Meta’s battle for the iPad kids will be over anytime soon.

In May, the FTC brought suit against Meta for dishonest representation about parental controls on the Messenger Kids app,  routine documentation of underage (under 13) Instagram users, and collecting children’s data. Despite reaching a $5 billion settlement in 2019, the FTC wants to “tighten the 2019 settlement to bar Meta from making money off data collected on users under age 18.” From facial recognition technology to virtual reality to social media data collection, the FTC is set on establishing a different set of regulations Meta must follow for underage users.

Meta also came under fire in October when a bipartisan group of 42 attorneys sued the company for targeting underage users with addictive Facebook and Instagram features. Alleging that Meta’s algorithms, notifications, and “infinite scroll through platform feeds” are purposefully enthralling young people to use social media frequently and for long periods of time, this group argues that kids’ mental health is suffering by Meta’s hand. The federal suit also alleges that Meta is in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection which bars the collection of under-13-year-olds’ personal data without parental consent.

THE VERDICT:

‍As Meta pledges to keep fighting, kids undoubtedly keep scrolling. In a 2022 Pew Research study investigating teenagers’ frequency of using YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, 35% reported using at least one of them “almost constantly.” Meta’s platforms are popular with young users, and we’re in uncharted territory as the courts debate how to handle and protect underage users’ data.