New Mexico AG Critiques Meta’s Instagram Rating System

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres has expressed strong criticism of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, branding its new PG-13 rating system for Instagram as a “dangerous publicity stunt.” Meta claims this system is designed to safeguard younger users from online threats.

In a letter directed to Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, Torres accused Meta of making “false claims” regarding its safety measures. A copy of this letter was exclusively obtained by The Post.

Torres remarked that Meta’s application of the PG-13 label creates an illusion of oversight that isn’t actually present on the platform. He described the announcement as a deceptive move that might mislead parents into thinking their children are safer on Instagram than they actually are.

This statement comes in light of a significant civil lawsuit filed by Torres in New Mexico state court. The suit alleges that Meta has neglected to shield children from adult content and potential predators. The highly publicized case is set to go to trial on February 2nd.

Last October, Meta announced it would direct teens on Instagram to accounts with safety filters based on what they described as PG-13 movie ratings. The platform indicated that it would shield teenagers from content featuring “strong language, risky stunts, and material that could encourage harmful behavior, including posts about marijuana paraphernalia.”

Torres criticized the misuse of the PG-13 label, citing it as “literally false, deceptive, and extremely misleading.” He noted that the Motion Picture Association of Japan, which has regulated the movie rating system for over six decades, concurred with his view on the label’s misapplication.

“It’s quite troubling that Meta has chosen to persist with this misleading public relations effort, even after the MPA requested they stop misleading parents,” Torres continued. He elaborated that the rigorous rating system enforced by the MPA stands in stark contrast to a platform that uses recommendation algorithms, which can steer children toward harmful content and facilitate predatory behavior.

Torres’ office demands that Meta discontinue marketing its teen accounts as PG-13 and implement actual safety measures for young users, such as age verification and addressing harmful algorithms that push dangerous content.

Reacting to Torres’ claims, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone defended the company, asserting their disagreement with the accusations and outlining their progress on safety measures. He characterized the letter as a publicity stunt rife with factual inaccuracies meant to detract from the legitimate changes implemented for user safety.

Fairplay for Kids, a group focused on children’s online safety, highlighted in a September report that only one in five safety features associated with Meta’s teen accounts proved effective during tests.

The New Mexico lawsuit, initiated in late 2023, alleges that both Mehta and Zuckerberg misled the public repeatedly about the effectiveness of their safety measures. Zuckerberg is named as a defendant alongside Mehta.

The complaint details how, according to New Mexico law enforcement, test accounts were created for four fictitious children on Instagram and Facebook, using AI-generated images that allegedly depicted children under 14 years of age.

The investigation reportedly showed these test accounts were inundated with adult sexual content and solicitations from suspected predators, including explicit images and offers for significant sums for participation in pornographic videos.

The lawsuit claims that Meta’s recommendation algorithms “facilitated a market connecting pedophiles, predators, and others involved in the sex trade,” enabling them to hunt, groom, and exploit minors on an unprecedented scale.