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Getting your account hacked or stolen is one of the worst nightmares of any social media user. All social platforms have preset instructions in place for serving hacking victims. Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram users should have gone to great lengths to take back their compromised accounts, according to Engadget.
A coalition of 41 state attorneys general wrote a letter to Meta, demanding the firm take “immediate action” to help users whose accounts on Facebook and Instagram were hacked. The attorney generals also complain that their offices are flooded with a “dramatic and persistent spike in complaints” from Meta users.
“We refuse to operate as the customer service representatives of your company,” the letter to Meta’s chief legal officer reads. “We request Meta take immediate action and substantially increase its investment in account takeover mitigation tactics, as well as responding to users whose accounts were taken over.”
41 state attorneys general warn Meta about its poor customer support for compromised accounts
The plaintiffs say Meta does not provide them with clear instructions and proper customer support to take back their accounts. Contacting Meta customer support also results in no action, and the firm does not respond to support requests. Meta’s support is mostly built on automatic responses, and the system isn’t capable of properly supporting users.
In recent years, even some high-profile accounts with millions of followers on Instagram and Facebook were deactivated. The owners of those accounts had a hard time restoring their accounts. Restoring a deactivated or hacked account is mostly done by finding a contact inside the Meta firm. Meanwhile, solely relying on online forms and instructions that Meta provides to victims results in nothing.
The attorney generals also demand Meta provide more information about “the number of account takeovers over the past five years; suspected causes of the increase in account takeovers; safeguards currently in place to prevent account takeovers; current policies and procedures related to Meta’s response to account takeovers; and staffing related to safeguarding the platforms against account takeovers as well as responding to complaints.”
The company has come under fire for allegedly letting parents exploit their children
A Meta spokesperson said the company has invested in resources, review teams, and tools to identify compromised accounts. “We regularly share tips and tools people can use to protect themselves, provide a means to report potential violations, work with law enforcement, and take legal action,” the spokesperson added.
Meta has recently come under fire for allegedly allowing parents to run accounts for their underage children. The reports allege that Meta was aware of the case and the explicit content being shared on their account. However, the firm didn’t take serious action to stop them. And only relied on its systems to limit access to children’s accounts.