US Virgin Islands Attorney General Sues Meta over Child Protection and Fraud

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JAKARTA - The Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands (U.S. Virgin Islands), Gordon C. Rhea, filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., including its subsidiaries Instagram and Facebook.

The lawsuit filed by the US Virgin Islands Department of Justice (VIDOJ) aims to protect the safety and well-being of tens of thousands of children and adolescents in the region who use Facebook and Instagram.

With this lawsuit, the Virgin Islands officially joined 42 other state attorneys general who have sued Meta in court for its failure to protect children and to honestly disclose the risks on its platform.

The lawsuit accuses Meta of knowingly profiting from large-scale fraudulent advertising. The company is even said to project around 10 percent of its 2025 revenue will come from fraudulent ads.

"And internally acknowledge that its platform contributes to one-third of all successful fraud in the United States," the lawsuit reads on VIDOJ's official website.

The lawsuit also states that Meta has deliberately failed to crack down on fraudulent ads because it is afraid of affecting the company's profits. And accused Meta of continuing to charge additional fees to fraudsters to display ads, even though the ads were detected as potentially fraudulent.

The company is also said to have allowed algorithms and user data to be used to target the most vulnerable groups, and to encourage addiction in teenagers, which triggers anxiety, depression, the risk of self-harm and suicide, and opens the door for sexual predators to exploit children.

This lawsuit was filed with the US Virgin Islands High Court in St. Croix. VIDOJ assessed that Meta had violated the Consumer Protection Law of 1973 and the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

Through the lawsuit, the prosecutor demands a court order for Meta to stop illegal practices, as well as impose civil sanctions and require the return of illegally obtained profits.