Exclusive | New Mexico AG blasts Meta for claiming PG-13 rating system protects children: Dangerous promotional stunt | Latest Tech News
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez ripped Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta over a new PG-13 rating system for Instagram that the company claims will shield younger customers from online hurt – calling it a “dangerous promotional stunt”.
Torrez blasted Meta over allegedly “false claims” about its new security options in letter addressed to Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, a copy of which was completely obtained by The Post.
“Meta’s misappropriation of the PG-13 label suggests a level of oversight that does not exist on the platform — making this announcement a dangerous promotional stunt that lulls parents into a false sense of security about the risks their children face when they use Instagram,” Torrez wrote in the letter.
Attorney General of New Mexico Raúl Torrez speaks during a rally organized by Accountable Tech and Design It For Us to maintain tech and social media corporations accountable for taking steps to shield children and teenagers online. Getty Images for Accountable Tech
The letter follows a bombshell civil lawsuit filed by Torrez in New Mexico state court, which accuses Meta of failing to shield children from grownup intercourse content and alleged baby predators. The high-profile case heads to trial on Feb. 2.
In October, Meta announced that teenagers on Instagram would robotically be positioned in accounts with security filters “guided by PG-13 movie ratings.” The company said teenagers could be shielded from posts with “strong language, certain risky stunts, and additional content that could encourage potentially harmful behaviors, such as posts showing marijuana paraphernalia.”
Torrez identified that the Motion Picture Association, which has overseen the movie rating system for the last six a long time, had “called Meta’s misuse of the PG-13 label ‘literally false, deceptive, and highly misleading.’”
“It is deeply alarming that Meta has chosen to continue its dangerous public relations campaign despite MPA’s demands that Meta stop misleading parents,” Torrez wrote.
“In reality, the MPA’s thorough rating and review system is inconsistent with a platform driven by recommendation algorithms that steer children towards harmful content, and enable predators to hunt, groom, and victimize minors,” he added.
The New Mexico attorney common demanded that Meta stop advertising its teen accounts as “PG-13” and “actually implement meaningful safety protections for children,” including implementing age verification and “addressing harmful algorithms that proactively serve dangerous content.”
Meta announced a PG-13 rating system for teen accounts in October. Meta
In a assertion to The Post, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made.
“The only promotional stunt is this letter, which is littered with factual errors and misrepresentations and deliberately designed to distract from the meaningful changes and built-in protections we’ve introduced to help keep young people safe online,” Stone added.
Fairplay for Kids, an online watchdog group targeted on baby security, said in a September report that its exams confirmed only one in 5 of the protection options related with Meta’s teen accounts program was efficient.
Initially filed in late 2023, New Mexico’s lawsuit alleges that Meta and Zuckerberg have repeatedly misled the public about the effectiveness of their security instruments. Zuckerberg is known as as a defendant alongside Meta in the case.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech as he presents the new line of sensible glasses, during the Meta Connect event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. REUTERS
According to the lawsuit, New Mexico state investigators set up check accounts on Instagram and Facebook for 4 fictional youngsters utilizing AI-generated pictures that purportedly portrayed youngsters aged 14 or youthful.
The check accounts have been bombarded with grownup intercourse content and outreach from alleged baby predators, including “pictures and videos of genitalia” and an offer of a six-figure fee to star in a porn video, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit claims that Meta’s suggestion algorithm has fueled a market that connects “pedophiles, predators, and others engaged in the commerce of sex and allow[s] them to hunt for, groom, sell, and buy sex with children and inappropriate images of children at an unprecedented scale.”
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