(MENAFN) Court filings recently unsealed in California allege that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, failed to promptly remove accounts involved in sex trafficking, allowing illicit content to persist despite repeated violations. The allegations are part of a lawsuit brought by more than 1,800 plaintiffs, including school districts, children and parents, and state attorneys general, accusing social media giants of “relentlessly [pursuing] a strategy of growth at all costs, recklessly ignoring the impact of their products on children’s mental and physical health.” The case also targets YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Former Instagram safety chief Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified that Meta maintained a “17-strike” policy for accounts allegedly engaged in human sex trafficking. She explained, “You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended,” describing the threshold as “very, very high” by industry standards.

The filings assert that Meta was aware of serious harms on its platforms, including millions of adult strangers contacting minors, products exacerbating teen mental health issues, and frequent detection—but rare removal—of content involving suicide, eating disorders, and child sexual abuse.

Responding to the allegations, Meta told reports that it now enforces a “one strike” policy, immediately removing accounts involved in human exploitation, replacing the former 17-strike system.

The company faces mounting scrutiny worldwide. Earlier this year, reports that Meta’s AI chatbots could engage minors in inappropriate exchanges prompted new safeguards for teen accounts, including parental controls. Additionally, Meta confronts several legal and regulatory challenges in the EU, including a €797 million antitrust fine related to Facebook Marketplace and ongoing copyright, data-protection, and targeted advertising cases across Spain, France, Germany, and Norway. Russia designated Meta an “extremist organization” in 2022 for refusing to remove prohibited content.

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