Meta lawsuit and right-wing extremism

Article by  Elvis (24.09.2026)

I have been intentionally provided with right-wing extremist content since I was 6 and have been addicted to it ever since. 

Right-wing extremism has become a regular topic, both in social media and in daily life. The desensitization of figures such as Adolf Hitler and Mussolini, as well as the overall right-wing extremism is reaching trending levels, even if it is satire or in a format to make fun of it. The spread of any extremist content is prominent across social media, and the regulation of such content has become a massive task for the people operating these sites, instead leading to CEOs looking towards AI to fix this problem. This has, of course, led to requirements such as ID verification being required for their sites or face scans, which has led to fear of safety and similar things. However we are not here to talk about this, we are here to talk about the most prominent of these CEOs and how they have not only not tried to put down right-wing extremist content or restricted at least children's access to it. They have intentionally built a system that makes children addicted to their website while paying right-extremist influencers or even taking money for the sake of keeping their account up.

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, was sued by the US states this October of 2023 over the fact that they intentionally made their websites addictive. The trail started this year in August. Meta has continuously argued that their target audience has never been teens and has itself provided evidence that they knew about the situation and tried to fix it. A quote from an instagram document speaking about this situation described the teens’ situation as follows: “Teens have an addict's narrative about use”, which in simple words means that teens see and use social media the same way drug users do, which to be completely fair, is true. It has been proven time and time again that social media works similarly to drugs with how the brain processes dopamine. With dopamine being released through some types of social media use. Now you may be reading all of this and thinking,“big deal, everyone knows that social media and short-form content is overall addicting”. I must say that is very true, however the fact that it is recognized at all is an important step to forcing more platforms to enforce much needed restrictions and protect our generation as well as future generations, i.e, our own future children. If you have been using Instagram or Facebook recently then you might have noticed a timeout appearing on your screen after about an hour of scrolling. This is due to this lawsuit. However, what is the most insane thing about this lawsuit is that it has also been proven that their payments from this short form content then lands in the paycheck of right-wing extremist accounts. 

An article from SverigesRadio by Klas Wolf Watz explains further on this topic. A right-wing user of Facebook and TikTok was able to buy advertisements that showed and promoted his content, which by the EU DSA Law was strictly forbidden and should’ve not only been regulated by Meta, but also should've been a clean-cut case of throwing it out due to its hateful messaging. Meta, instead of doing this, took their paycheck,  and let him do whatever. To add insult to injury, as I previously mentioned, Meta is outright paying these accounts due to their content. It is one thing for someone to make content and deserves a paycheck, but by European Law and by pure morality, the spreading of hate should not be paid for and the act of doing so is the act of supporting such ideas. 

Overall, Meta, and probably many other companies that dwell in social media platforms, are responsible to some degree both for the addiction that their platforms provide and for the extremist content that is constantly being spread by hateful people and read by those who don’t truly understand the message. In a world where we must be together as a people, it is extremely important to put our values as an ideology aside and instead focus on the world as a whole, and the first step to doing that is giving out love to people rather than hating on them. 

If this topic interests you I have included sources below which you can read in your own time. 

We would like to add that this is an opinion piece and we encourage your own independent research if you are interested in this topic 

Sources: 

Carter, Lucy. “Facebook Is Paying Controversial Creators to Produce Rage-bait Content.” ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026, www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-06/ragebait-how-facebook-is-paying-controversial-creators/106940696. 

“Meta och Tiktok fick betalt från rasistiska konton för att sprida inlägg.” Radio Sweden På Lätt Svenska, sverige radio, www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/meta-och-tiktok-fick-betalt-fran-rasistiska-konton-for-att-sprida-inlagg.

Karlsson, Jesper. “Granskning: Meta Fick Betalt Av Högerextremt Konto | Omni.” Omni, 1 Sept. 2026, omni.se/granskning-meta-tog-betalt-for-att-sprida-hogerextremt-innehall/a/pBXg1W. 

Bhaimiya, Sawdah. “Meta Settlement Could Clear the Way for New AI Product Launches, Morgan Stanley Says.” CNBC, 2 Sept. 2026, www.cnbc.com/2026/09/02/meta-18-billion-settlement-ai-products.html. 

Rahman-Jones, Imran. Meta to Pay up to $18bn to Settle Claims Its Platforms Harm Children. 26 Aug. 2026, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd68q3wynnqo. 

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