The Virgin Islands Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc., alleging that the social media giant failed to protect children and knowingly
profited from widespread fraud on its platforms, Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea announced Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court on St. Croix, names Meta and its wholly owned subsidiaries, including Instagram, LLC and Facebook Holdings, LLC. It seeks to address what the Department of Justice describes as systemic harms affecting tens of thousands of Virgin Islands residents who use Facebook and Instagram, including minors and elderly users.
According to the complaint, the Virgin Islands joins 42 other states that have sued Meta over its alleged failure to safeguard children and disclose risks associated with its platforms. However, the territory’s action goes further, becoming the first lawsuit by an attorney general to directly target what it calls Meta’s role in facilitating and profiting from rampant online fraud.
The complaint alleges that Meta knowingly generated significant revenue from fraudulent advertising, projecting that approximately 10 percent of its 2025 revenue — an estimated $16 billion — would come from scam-related ads. Meta allegedly acknowledged internally that its platforms were responsible for roughly one-third of successful scams nationwide.
Despite public assurances that it was combating fraud, the lawsuit claims Meta intentionally failed to curb fraudulent advertising due to concerns about lost profits. In some cases, the company allegedly identified ads as fraudulent but allowed them to remain active, charging fraudsters higher fees to continue running scam advertisements.
The filing further asserts that Meta enabled scammers to exploit its algorithms and user data to target vulnerable populations, including seniors, while simultaneously designing its platforms in ways that encourage addictive use among teens. The complaint cites alleged links between these design choices and increased rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among young users.
In addition, the lawsuit accuses Meta of allowing its social media, messaging, and virtual reality platforms to become environments where children are groomed, solicited, and sexually exploited. The company is also alleged to have publicly promoted safety initiatives while privately choosing not to implement them to protect its financial interests.
The Department of Justice contends that Meta violated the Virgin Islands Consumer Protection Law of 1973 and the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to halt the alleged unlawful practices, as well as civil penalties and the disgorgement of profits the government claims were improperly obtained.
