Meta and TikTok are in hot water again for not protecting minors or limiting their use on the platforms. The Institute of Collective Defense, a consumer rights group in Brazil, launched two lawsuits against Meta, TikTok and Kwai, another Chinese short video platform, worth three billion reais ($525.8 million). Reuters rEPORTS.

The lawsuits stem from some of the (many) studies that demonstrate the risk of using social media. Order Meta and co. to issue clear warnings about how platform addiction can negatively impact the mental health of minors. It also requires companies to establish detailed data protection mechanisms.

“It is urgent that measures be taken to change the way the algorithm works, the processing of data from users under 18, and the way teenagers aged 13 and over are supervised and create their accounts, to ensure a safe better. , healthier experience … as is already happening in developed countries,” said Lillian Salgado, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs.

This is far from the first process for Meta or TikTok regarding the safety of minors. At the end of 2023, New Mexico sued Meta for failing to protect children in a claim that both Facebook and Instagram suggested sexual content to minors. A month later, it was revealed that in an internal memo from 2021, Meta had discovered that more than 100,000 child users were experiencing daily harassment. However, Meta executives rejected the recommended algorithm redesigns. Earlier this month, 14 state attorneys general have sued TikTok because it “falsely claimed that its platform was safe for young people.” These are just two of the many lawsuits filed against social media platforms for failing to protect young users.

Recent meta created accounts for teenagers on Instagram, which are mandatory for all users under the age of 16. They have stricter privacy settings and require parental approval for any changes. However, these accounts are not yet available in Brazil – although Meta claims they will be soon.

A statement from Meta said it wants “young people to have safe and age-appropriate experiences in our apps, and we’ve been working on these issues for over a decade, developing more than 50 tools, resources and features to support teens and their guards”.

In particular, Brazil has recently faced Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) for refusing to block profiles that the government claimed were promoting election disinformation. In the end, the company paid a fine of 28 million reais ($4.9 million).