FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 10, 2025
Contact:
Ashwin Verghese
717 676 8584
[email protected]
MEDIA ADVISORY
COMPLAINT AGAINST META FILED AT FTC ALLEGING WIDESPREAD HORIZON WORLDS CHILD PRIVACY VIOLATIONS
WASHINGTON, DC — Fairplay filed a request today for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Meta for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by knowingly letting children under age 13 improperly access its “Horizon Worlds” gaming platform and collecting their personal data without parental notice and consent, exposing the kids to harm.
Meta whistleblower and former Horizon Worlds Director of Product Marketing Kelly Stonelake is supporting Fairplay’s filing with a sworn statement.
The filing arrives as the FTC’s antitrust case against Meta is scheduled to go to trial on April 14. Meta is also currently under a previous FTC consent decree for privacy violations.
Fairplay Policy Counsel Haley Hinkle said: “Our months-long, rigorous investigation shows that Meta knows that children under 13 make up a substantial percentage of users within Horizon Worlds, that these children are accessing the platform improperly, and that Meta is collecting copious amounts of their data without parental consent in flagrant violation of COPPA. Our filing also shows that Meta’s conduct is causing substantial harm to young users, who face harassment, bullying, financial harms, and the risk of sexual predation when they log on to Horizon Worlds. In 2023, the FTC proposed that Meta should not be permitted to monetize children’s data any more. We present the FTC with this additional proof that Meta continually fails to protect youth on its platforms, and we urge the agency to investigate Meta and address its violations to the fullest extent of the law.”
Meta whistleblower and former Horizon Worlds Director of Product Marketing Kelly Stonelake said: “During my time at Meta, it was widely known that children were accessing Horizon Worlds by misrepresenting their ages and logging in with accounts registered as adults, and that doing so violated federal privacy laws. Meta had extensive knowledge of users under 13 accessing the platform and failed to take appropriate measures to comply with COPPA. Rather than delete the accounts of users under 13, whose data Meta did not have parental permission to collect, the company instructed employees not to document the very obvious presence of children on the platform.”
Read Fairplay’s request for investigation.
FAIRPLAY INVESTIGATION FINDINGS
From July 2024 to April 2025, Fairplay investigated the experiences of children in Horizon Worlds, a social gaming platform owned and operated by Meta that is considered part of the “metaverse” and can be accessed through Meta’s line of VR headsets.
To begin with, Fairplay conducted hands-on research by exploring the platform and logging the percentage of users who obviously had children’s voices.
Meta had a policy that Horizon Worlds was for users 13 and older until it began allowing child accounts on the platform in November of last year. To access Horizon Worlds, children ages 10-12 are ostensibly required to have a child account, which requires parental consent for data collection and prevents the children from voice chatting with other users.
However, Fairplay’s researchers heard the voices of children under age 13 (verified in part by comparing audio samples) in nearly every game and experience they visited on the platform, both before and after the November 2024 policy change. That means those children had to be using non-child accounts, which lack COPPA protections and other privacy and safety settings.
Fairplay’s investigation also found that Meta knew about this problem and failed to take action to stop it. Fairplay discovered that Meta employees known as “community guides” are frequently on the platform and regularly interact with users who are obviously children.
In addition, over 110 reviews of Horizon Worlds on Meta’s app during the last six months of 2024 — accounting for nearly 18% of all reviews of the platform during that time — mention the presence of children, with one reviewer stating that many of the children were “100% below the min[imum] age of 13.”
SUPPORT FROM META WHISTLEBLOWER
Following its investigation, Fairplay worked with Kelly Stonelake, a former Meta executive turned whistleblower. Stonelake served as the Director of Marketing for Horizon Worlds.
Stonelake provided a sworn statement in which she describes specific instances where multiple Meta executives were given information about, or directly acknowledged, the overwhelming presence of underage users accessing Horizon Worlds with non-child accounts.
Stonelake further describes how these Meta executives instigated an intentional campaign to shirk their responsibilities under COPPA by avoiding documentation of discussions in which employees raised concerns about underage users improperly accessing the platform.
Stonelake said: “Even though I was responsible for Horizon Worlds’ go-to-market strategy, they tried to distance my access to information as I raised issues. Meta did not want me to fix this problem; they wanted me to make it go away. When I refused to be silent about harming kids for profit, I was pushed out.
“I join Fairplay in urging the FTC to thoroughly investigate Meta’s handling of child safety in Horizon Worlds. The urgency is not theoretical. Children are on this platform now. They’re being exposed to inappropriate content, predation, and cyberbullying now. And Meta continues to profit while treating underage users not as people to protect, but as opportunities for growth and revenue at any cost. Meta’s executives know exactly what’s happening on their platform. They’ve simply calculated that children’s safety is worth less than their compensation. Every day that passes without oversight risks irreversible harm.”
Read Fairplay’s request for investigation.
###
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at https://fairplayforkids.org.