Iowa AG Sues Meta Over Alleged Deceptive Practices on Instagram

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced she has filed a lawsuit against Meta and several of its subsidiaries, including Instagram and Facebook, for breaking Iowa’s consumer protection laws.

The Attorney General’s Office alleges Instagram represents itself as being safe for Iowa’s children and teenagers, yet there is explicit content readily available. The state also asserts that Meta designed Instagram to be addictive, particularly to Iowa youth, and that this addiction harms Iowa children by substantially affecting their health.

In addition to Instagram’s addictive nature and design, Instagram tells consumers that it contains only “infrequent” or “mild” content related to things like drug use, sexual content or nudity, and other mature themes, leading Instagram to rate itself as 12+, 13+ or T for Teen (i.e., suitable for teens 17 and under). However, the lawsuit asserts Instagram allows rampant “sexual content and nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and references, and mature/suggestive themes on the Instagram platform, including readily accessible hardcore pornography.”

The platform has also been found in third-party investigations to promote or allow child pornography, sexual extortion of teenagers, and open dealing of opioids and other drugs.

The Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks a preliminary and a permanent injunction to force Instagram to change or stop altogether its deceptive and unfair statements about the frequency and severity of drug and alcohol content, sexual content, nudity, mature/suggestive themes, and profanity on the Instagram platform; its inaccurate age-ratings in the App Store and other online marketplaces; and its deceptive public assurances in the Instagram Community Guidelines and elsewhere.

The lawsuit was filed in Polk County District Court.