Is Instagram ethical?

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Labor & working conditions Confirmed

Instagram used for female domestic migrant worker trafficking

Instagram is accused of being used to traffic female domestic migrant workers.

1 sourceRead sources
business-humanrights.org
Washington Post (WP) has published an investigation revealing that Instagram has been used in the recent years for trafficking in female domestic migrant workers.

Corporate conduct Confirmed

Instagram faces child sex trafficking allegations

Instagram is accused of enabling child sex trafficking through its marketplaces.

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theguardian.com
The investigation was published in April 2023, titled How Facebook and Instagram became marketplaces for child sex trafficking.

Corporate conduct Allegation

Instagram is accused of concealing kids safety docs

Instagram is accused of concealing children's safety documents during a court battle by giving out swag hats under attorney-client privilege.

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nypost.com
Instagram made 'attorney-client privilege' swag hats for employees who concealed kids safety docs in court battle
Instagram allegedly made hats for its employees with the phrase “attorney-client privilege” – an “utterly sick” joke about using legal loopholes to conceal explosive legal documents about kids social media addiction, according to critics.

Corporate conduct Confirmed

Instagram abandoned encryption plans for DMs

Instagram abandoned plans to encrypt direct messages, citing concerns about protecting children on the platform.

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theguardian.com
He also discussed previously abandoned plans to encrypt Instagram’s direct messages, noting that doing so would have made it harder to protect children on the platform.

Corporate conduct Allegation

Instagram is accused of harming teens' mental health

Multiple school districts and local governments allege Instagram harms children and teenagers' mental health.

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business-humanrights.org
Multiple cases have been filed by school districts and local governments alleging that social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok and Youtube harm children and teenagers' mental health.

Corporate conduct Confirmed

Instagram apologizes for silencing Black voices

Instagram apologized for algorithmically silencing Black voices.

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journals.plos.org
Similarly, Instagram and TikTok apologized for algorithmically silencing Black voices [41, 42].

Corporate conduct Allegation

Instagram is accused of hiding teen safety feature usage

Instagram is accused of hiding that teens don't use safety features touted by the company.

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theguardian.com
On Tuesday, questioning of Adam Mosseri, the Instagram CEO, began with the lawyer for the states accusing the company of touting safety features for teens, but not being forthcoming that young people don’t use them.

Privacy & surveillance Confirmed

Instagram enables 13-17 year-old business accounts

Instagram allows young users aged 13-17 to set up business accounts, making their contact information publicly available.

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theverge.com
The first was Instagram allowing young users, ages 13-17, to set up business accounts on the platform, which made those users’ contact information publicly available.
Instagram was fined $402 million in the EU for making young users’ data public | The Verge

Corporate conduct Allegation

A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general sued Meta in 2023

A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general sued Meta in 2023, alleging features on Facebook and Instagram are addictive and are aimed at kids and teens.

4 sourcesRead sources
apnews.com
The deal cut short a landmark trial in federal court in Oakland, California, where the Instagram and Facebook parent company was fighting claims that it deliberately designed features that get children addicted.
cnbc.com
A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general sued Meta in 2023, alleging features on Facebook and Instagram are addictive and are aimed at kids and teens.
courthousenews.com
Massachusetts regulators say Instagram’s design is detrimental to health and well-being and that the company misled the public about the platform’s dangers, thus creating a public nuisance.
The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell sued Instagram’s parent company under laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices and public nuisances.
npr.org
Court orders Instagram and Facebook's Meta to pay $567M to address kids' mental health online

Corporate conduct Confirmed

Instagram design practices face legal claims

Instagram is held accountable for consumer-protection violations related to its design features and business practices as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Section 230 does not protect it from such claims.

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courthousenews.com
On appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded that Section 230 — which for decades has shielded social media companies from lawsuits related to content hosted on their platforms — does not protect Instagram from claims arising from the company’s own design features and business practices.