US states urge Meta to address Facebook and Instagram account hijackings
Forty states in the U.S. along with Washington, D.C. have urged Meta Platforms to take action against scammers who are taking over Facebook and Instagram accounts, in response to a significant increase in account hijackings.
The states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, said in a letter to Meta’s general counsel that scammers are “winning the war and running rampant at Meta” after the company announced thousands of job cuts in November 2022 focused on security and privacy.
Since 2019, New York has seen a 1,000 percent increase in complaints about scammers using accounts and changing passwords that allow them to read private messages and impersonate real users to trick contacts and the public, according to the state.
Four states—Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont—reported a more than 250 percent increase in complaints in the past year alone.
“Social media is how millions of Americans connect,” James said in a statement. “If your social media account is taken over by a scammer, it can feel like someone sneaking into your house and changing all the locks.”
The states urged Meta to spend more money to prevent account hijacking, including by adding more staff and working more closely with people whose accounts have been hacked.
In an emailed statement, a Meta spokesperson said the Menlo Park, California-based company is investing “heavily” in technology and staff to identify compromised accounts and share tips with users and law enforcement to resolve the problem.
The letter was also signed by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In October, 41 states and Washington, D.C. sued Meta, claiming the company designed its platform for children with addictions, harming their mental health.
