USVI – On December 29, 2025, V.I. Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea announced the filing of a lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice (VIDOJ) against Meta Platforms, Inc. and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries – including Instagram, LLC and Facebook Holdings, LLC – to protect the well-being and safety of the tens of thousands of U.S. Virgin Islands teens and children who use Facebook and Instagram. In addition, VIDOJ’s complaint marks the first effort by an Attorney General to address reports of rampant fraud and scams on Meta’s platforms, which impact all Virgin Islands residents, including the elderly.
“With this lawsuit, the Virgin Islands not only joins 42 other state attorneys general who have taken Meta to court for its failures to protect children and to honestly disclose the risks on its platforms, but expands their efforts by seeking to hold Meta accountable for knowingly facilitating, failing to address, and richly profiting from widespread fraud on its platforms,” according to the Complaint.
The Complaint includes allegations that Meta:
- Knowingly profited from widespread fraudulent advertising. Meta projected that 10% of its revenue in 2025, roughly $16 billion, would derive from fraudulent ads and privately acknowledged that its platforms were responsible for a third of all successful scams in the United States;
- Intentionally failed – despite public representations to the contrary – to crack down on fraudulent advertising citing potential impacts on profits;
- Detected ads it believed to be fraudulent, and rather than taking them down, charged fraudsters extra for the right to advertise scams;
- Allowed fraudsters to use Meta’s algorithms and user data to target the most vulnerable users;
- Adopted algorithms and platform designs that disabled teens from controlling their time spent on Meta’s platforms and foster addiction, problematic use, anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide;
- Allowed its platforms – including its social media, messaging, and virtual reality (VR) platforms – to become breeding grounds for predators who groom, solicit, and sexually exploit children;
- Publicly promised various policies and initiatives to keep consumers and children safe and privately decided not to follow through on these promises to protect the company’s bottom line.
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix. The complaint asserts that Meta violated the Consumer Protection Law of 1973 (12A V.I.C. 101) and the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (12A V.I.C. 304) and seeks injunctive relief to require Meta to stop its practices that violate the law, as well as civil penalties and disgorgement of Meta’s improper profits.
Consumers who believe they have been victims of fraud or other abuse on Meta’s platforms are encouraged to report their experiences to the VIDOJ Special Investigations Division. Reports may be directed to Ms. Joycelyn Conner at [email protected] or by phone at 340-774-5666 ext. 10343.
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