‘Highly disturbing’: Walmart, Match Group torch Meta for running ads next to child sexual abuse material

Walmart and Match Group are going after Meta for running their Facebook and Instagram advertisements next to child sexual abuse material, according to a recently amended lawsuit, the New York Post reported.

The complaint, amended Tuesday, revealed that Walmart and Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and several other online dating services, have repeatedly confronted Meta about illegal content on its social media platforms.

In November, Match Group reportedly told Meta that it observed a series of “highly disturbing” Reels of young girls alongside its advertisements. The company’s CEO, Bernard Kim, directly contacted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, stating, “Our ads are being serviced to your users viewing violent and predatory content.” According to the complaint, Zuckerberg never responded.

On previous occasions, Kim contacted Zuckerberg about the company’s ads running next to “gruesome content.” Match Group demanded that Meta “stop this from happening on your platform.”

In June, the Wall Street Journal ran an extensive report accusing Instagram of propping up a “vast network of accounts openly devoted to the commission and purchase of underage-sex content.”

Following the release of the WSJ’s report, Walmart reached out to Meta with concerns. In response, Meta claimed it removes “98% of this violating content before it’s even reported.” A Meta employee also claimed that the WSJ reporters’ search history influenced the content ads appeared alongside. The worker said his “gut feeling is that this was really bad luck.”

“It is extremely disappointing that this type of content exists on Meta, and it is unacceptable for Walmart’s brand to appear anywhere near it,” Walmart stated in a message to Meta. “As a longtime business partner, it was also very disappointing to learn about this from reporters, rather than from Meta.”

The initial lawsuit, filed last month by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, accused Meta of failing to protect minors from sexual predators and pornographic material, Blaze News previously reported. Torrez further accused the social media giant of threatening to delete data relevant to its investigation into the platforms.

Torrez told the Post, “New evidence indicates Meta officials are duping corporate advertisers and permitting sponsored content to appear alongside deeply disturbing images and videos that clearly violate Meta’s promised standards.”

The AG’s lawsuit also included evidence of sexual predators having “open conversations about the role of Instagram’s and Facebook’s algorithms in delivering children to predators.”

“Predators discuss leveraging Instagram to search, like, and comment on images of children in order to get the algorithm to funnel similar images, videos, and accounts to their feeds, to identify groups of pedophiles and children, and to connect with potential child victims,” the complaint claimed.

In a statement to the Post, Walmart said that it “take[s] brand safety issues extremely seriously, and protecting our customers and communities will always be a top priority.”

Meta has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. In a blog article posted earlier this week, the company announced new protections to guard minors from inappropriate material online.

Match Group declined the Post’s request for comment, and Meta did not immediately respond.

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