Meta, TikTok’s Brazilian units sued for $525M over social media’s use by minors – report

The Collective Defense Institute filed two lawsuits demanding 3B reais ($525.27M) from the Brazilian units of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), TikTok and Kwai for allegedly failing to develop measures to prevent indiscriminate use of the social media platforms by minors, Reuters reported citing initial petitions.

The Brazilian consumer rights group wants the companies to develop clear data protection measures and issue warnings related to risks of mental health of children and teenagers due to addiction from the platforms, the report added.

The lawsuits are based on a series of studies on the possible damage caused by unsupervised use of social media, mainly by children and adolescents.

“It is urgent that measures be adopted in order to change the way the algorithm works, the processing of data from users under 18, and the way in which teenagers aged 13 and over are supervised and their accounts created, in order to ensure a safer, healthier experience,” said Lillian Salgado, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs, according to the report.

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

Last month, Instagram launched ‘Teen Accounts’ to provide extra protection to teens on the social media platform, where even parents can get involved.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance (BDNCE), noted that it had not received any notice about the case. Meanwhile, short video focused platform Kwai said that user safety is one of its priorities, specially when it comes to minors, the report added.