Instagram and Facebook subscriptions are a new focus of Child Safety Suit
New Mexico’s attorney general, who last year sued Meta for failing to protect children from sexual predators and making false claims about the security of its platforms, announced Monday that his office would investigate how the company’s paid subscription services attract predators .
Attorney General Raúl Torrez said he had formally requested documentation from the social media company about subscriptions to Facebook and Instagram, which are often available on child accounts managed by parents.
Instagram does not allow users under the age of 13, but accounts aimed entirely at children are allowed as long as they are managed by an adult. The New York Times published an investigation into girl influencers on the platform on Thursday, reporting that the so-called mom-run accounts charge followers up to $19.99 per month for additional photos, chat sessions and other perks.
The Times found that adult men subscribe to the accounts, including some who actively participate in forums where people discuss the girls in sexual terms.
“This deeply disturbing pattern of behavior puts children at risk – and continues despite a wave of lawsuits and congressional investigations,” Torrez said in a statement.
Mr. Torrez filed a complaint in December accusing Meta of facilitating harmful activity between adults and minors on Facebook and Instagram and failing to detect and remove such activity when it was reported. The charges were based in part on findings from accounts Mr. Torrez’s office created, including one for a fictitious 14-year-old girl who received an offer of $180,000 to appear in a pornographic video.
Although Instagram’s rules prohibit users under the age of 18 from offering subscriptions, its parent accounts bypass that restriction.
“I found The New York Times’ reporting on Meta’s creation of a market funded by child predators deeply disturbing,” Mr. Torrez said. “After reading The Times story, I sent Meta a new request for documents based on the alarming findings.”
Instagram introduced subscriptions in 2022. The added feature came as social media companies compete fiercely to attract people engaged in the so-called creator economy. Instagram isn’t cutting back on subscription revenue, but it does benefit when influencers and other popular users choose the platform to build their fan base.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Meta employees had raised the alarm about the rollout of the subscription service. The article quoted unnamed Meta employees as saying that some parents knew they were producing content for “the sexual gratification of other adults.”
Some of these accounts include outtakes, behind-the-scenes photos and other “exclusive content” in their subscription offerings, which the parents see as a good way to make extra money for the girl influencers. Many mothers told The Times they have spent countless hours blocking “creepy” men from following the accounts, which many continue to run even after their daughters become teenagers; others said the large following was helpful in promoting their daughters on Instagram.
A group of more than forty other attorneys general also sued Meta last year in state and federal court, alleging that its products were harmful to teens and young adolescents and that the company was aware of such harm.
A spokesman for Meta, Andy Stone, did not respond to Mr. Torrez’s new request for information in a statement Monday. He reiterated previous responses to legal action against the company.
“Child exploitation is a heinous crime and online predators are determined criminals,” he said. “We use cutting-edge technology, hire child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, including attorneys general, to root out predators.”