Meta faces Australian lawsuit over alleged social media harm to children

Class action could be first in Australia to blame social media for harming its users.

Meta spokesperson says 'we will defend ourselves vigorously', against the claim [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

Meta and its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram are facing a class action lawsuit in Australia over allegations that addictive design features are harming children and teenagers.

The lawsuit, filed by MinterEllison in the Australian Federal Court, seeks to recover compensation for current and former users of Facebook and Instagram who claim they were exposed to harmful content or developed an addiction to social media as a result of using those platforms, the law firm said in a statement released on Thursday.

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“This proceeding raises important questions about the design and operation of social media platforms and their impact on children and teenagers in Australia. Those questions will now be considered through the Federal Court process,” MinterEllison Partner William Nolan said in the statement.

The class action suit was filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs who allege they were harmed by Meta while they were below the age of 18.

In a suppression order on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal their identities and the statement of claim.

“We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Litigation Lending Services said it was funding the class action for Australian families who “would have no practical means of pursuing these claims against a global technology giant”.

The lawsuit comes amid rising tensions between Australia and Big Tech after a world-first ban on social media for children below 16 in 2025, and newly proposed rules that could let users switch off algorithm-driven content on their feeds.

Meta agreed in August to pay $18bn to settle with nearly all US states to resolve claims that it designed social media to addict children.

澳大利亚可能首次出现将社交媒体损害用户利益的集体诉讼。

Meta发言人表示“我们将坚决捍卫自身权益”，驳斥这一指控。[图片：Dado Ruvic/路透社]

Meta及其社交媒体平台Facebook和Instagram在澳大利亚面临集体诉讼，指控其令人上瘾的设计功能正在伤害儿童和青少年。

明特艾利森律师事务所周四发表声明称，该诉讼由明特艾利森向澳大利亚联邦法院提起，旨在为Facebook和Instagram的现任和前任用户追回赔偿金，这些用户声称他们因使用这些平台而接触到有害内容或对社交媒体上瘾。

澳大利亚拟议的“选择退出”法案旨在限制大型科技公司的算法（共3项，此为第1项）

澳大利亚寻求大型科技公司支持，以加强网络安全和人工智能监管（共3条，此为第2条）

墨西哥将强制Meta、TikTok和X更好地保护平台上的未成年人（名单3/3）。

“此次诉讼引发了关于社交媒体平台的设计和运营及其对澳大利亚儿童和青少年影响的重要问题。这些问题现在将通过联邦法院的程序进行审议，”明特艾利森律师事务所合伙人威廉·诺兰在声明中表示。

这起集体诉讼由八名原告提起，他们声称在未满 18 岁时受到 Meta 的伤害。

周一，法院发布禁令，禁止报道任何可能泄露他们身份和诉讼声明的信息。

Meta公司的一位发言人表示：“我们已经注意到这一说法，并将坚决捍卫自身权益。”

诉讼贷款服务公司表示，它正在为澳大利亚家庭提供集体诉讼资金，这些家庭“实际上没有办法对这家全球科技巨头提起这些诉讼”。

在澳大利亚于 2025 年首次禁止 16 岁以下儿童使用社交媒体，以及新提出的允许用户关闭信息流中算法驱动的内容等一系列新规之后，澳大利亚与大型科技公司之间的紧张关系日益加剧，而此次诉讼正是在此背景下发生的。

Meta 于 8 月份同意支付 180 亿美元，与几乎所有美国州达成和解，以解决其设计社交媒体旨在让儿童上瘾的指控。