Better Health for All

Meta's core products are alleged by 33 U.S. states to be addictive and harmful to youth mental health

, a claim supported by internal 2020 research showing negative mental health impacts. The company allegedly suppressed these research findings and hid risks from users and Congress. Safety features are criticized as ineffective, with allegations of requiring 17 attempts for sex traffickers before removal and stalling child predator prevention. Meta's policy allows "allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation," a stigmatizing practice. The company settled for A$50 million over privacy breaches affecting 311,127 Australian users , and the FTC has cited other companies for sharing sensitive user data with Meta. Furthermore, Meta discontinued its third-party fact-checking program in 2025 , contributing to thriving misinformation and over-removal of critical health content like abortion information. Despite these issues, Meta connected over 2 billion people to COVID-19 health resources and implemented mental health initiatives, including an employee program offering 25 free therapy sessions and a campaign reaching over 18 million people.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Meta settled a lawsuit with the Department of Justice on June 27, 2022, related to allegations of Fair Housing Act violations concerning housing advertising.

In January 2023, Meta launched the Variance Reduction System (VRS) to enhance equitable distribution of housing ads. From January 1, 2024, to April 30, 2024, an independent third-party, Guidehouse, verified Meta's compliance with VRS Compliance Metrics for sex and estimated race/ethnicity in housing advertisements. Guidehouse concluded that Meta's compliance with the VRS Compliance Metrics for the reporting period was not impacted, with a zero percent difference between Meta’s and Guidehouse’s calculated coverage. Meta does not offer lending or deposit services, consumer credit products, or operate financial service access points. The company does not generate or manage customer finance data, nor does it have revenue from high-cost financial products or penalty fees. Meta does not have a loan or insurance book, provide debt products to consumers, or offer financial products requiring disclosure or explanation.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

In May 2022, Meta's Facebook Technologies was cited for nine major safety violations at its Redmond, WA, facility, including failures in chemical hazard training and proper exposure monitoring, resulting in $27,000 in penalties.

Additionally, Meta reported a median hourly gender pay gap of 8.7% in 2022, indicating that women earned 91.3% of men's median hourly pay. This gap was attributed to imbalanced gender representation, particularly in technical roles within the engineering organization.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

Meta ended its supplier diversity program and other DEI initiatives in January 2025.

, meaning the company no longer directs procurement budget to indigenous, minority, or local community suppliers. While 2023 data showed 5% of supply spend with Black suppliers and 2% with Latino/Hispanic-owned suppliers, this was under a program that has since been terminated. No specific data is provided for fair-trade certifications, audit frequency, forced or child labor incidents, supply chain traceability, remediation speed, ethical clause coverage, or materials risk index.

Honest & Fair Business

Meta has incurred significant ethics-related regulatory fines and settlements totaling approximately $4.12 billion within the last three years (February 2023 to February 2026).

These include a €1.2 billion fine in May 2023 for unlawful data transfers , a €390 million fine in January 2023 for forcing users to agree to personalized ads , a $1.4 billion settlement in July 2024 for illegally using facial recognition technology , a €3.5 million fine in June 2024 for unclear data use , a $31.85 million settlement in December 2024 with Australia’s privacy regulator , a €91 million fine in October 2024 for storing user passwords in plain text , and an €800 million fine for antitrust violations. Sustainalytics assesses Meta's overall ESG Risk Rating as high , with product governance risks 50% higher than the industry average. The company is also facing formal proceedings by the European Commission regarding deceptive advertisements and disinformation under the Digital Services Act.

Kind to Animals

Meta dedicates over 50% of its owned operational data center campus footprint, exceeding 4,000 acres, to supporting local, biodiverse habitats with native species.

The company invested nearly $1 million to restore 2,000 acres of longleaf pine forest in Trinity County, Texas. , and supports a project to construct a fish passage in the Boise River. Regarding public policy engagement, Meta co-founded the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online in 2018 and removed 7.6 million pieces of wildlife-related content in 2023. However, the rate of blocking illegal wildlife trafficking postings dropped 9% over the past three years. A 2020 report found hundreds of Facebook pages and groups openly selling wildlife products, with over half created after Meta joined the coalition. Furthermore, 76% of Facebook's wildlife-focused recommendations were posts seeking to buy or sell live animals, potentially violating policies. , and only 43% of reported suspicious posts were removed a week later. Meta has also faced criticism for allowing and monetizing content depicting severe animal abuse and for insufficient policy enforcement regarding illegal puppy trade. The Oversight Board recommended Meta clarify its policy on the sale of non-endangered animals.

No War, No Weapons

Meta Platforms Inc. has granted approval for US national security agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models (Llama) for military applications, including data analysis and cyber defenses.

The company has also partnered with Anduril Industries to develop augmented and virtual reality devices for military use, providing real-time battlefield intelligence. Meta explicitly states it "will not have a say in how US agencies or its partners use the Llama technology," indicating a complete lack of ethical safeguards for military applications of its AI systems. While Meta has an "acceptable use policy" that forbids *people* from using its AI models for military, warfare, nuclear industries, or espionage, the company itself makes exceptions for government agencies and partners, effectively undermining its own stated red lines for its operations. In its 2024 Conflict Minerals Report, Meta identified that 205 out of 212 (96.7%) of its smelters and refiners were conformant with RMAP or certified by a cross-recognized program. The company conducts annual reviews of potential red flags or identified risks related to conflict minerals, but these reviews only identify low-risk partners, with remediation ongoing. No independent private sector audit of its Conflict Minerals Report has been conducted.

Planet-Friendly Business

Meta's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 7.496 million tCO₂e in 2023.

The company has maintained net zero emissions in its global operations (Scope 1 and 2) since 2020 and aims to achieve net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2030, with interim milestones including a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2031 from a 2021 baseline. Meta's science-based reduction targets are currently under review with the SBTi. The company has matched 100% of its annual electricity use with clean and renewable energy since 2020. In 2023, Meta's water restoration projects returned more water than consumed, achieving a water positive status, and its water use per million USD revenue was 42.0 m³ in 2022. 99% of Meta's square footage for data centers and offices was covered by green building standards in 2022 , and 91% of data center construction waste was recycled in 2023. Meta covers 100% of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions with high-integrity carbon removal projects, including Direct Air Capture (DAC) and pyrolyzed waste biomass storage. More than 50% of the total area of US data center campuses is dedicated to native and biodiverse habitat. 28% of Meta's suppliers have set science-aligned emissions reduction targets. The company's sustainability report is prepared in reference to TCFD , and it has assessed climate scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for its data centers for 2030 and 2050.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Meta has 5 formal partnerships with indigenous or local community groups, including a contract with the Fon du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa community for carbon credits

, collaborations with UNESCO for Indigenous language integration and digitizing Tanzania's heritage , a collaboration with NCTR for Truth and Reconciliation Week , and a $200,000 grant to AMAN for Indigenous rights . The company has been involved in multiple incidents causing significant harm to communities, including its role in the 2017 atrocities against the Rohingya in Myanmar, where it rejected a $1 million remediation request . In 2025, Meta's Oversight Board criticized the company for leaving up anti-Muslim and anti-migrant content during UK riots and for delayed crisis protocol activation . Tribal nations filed lawsuits in 2024 and 2025 , alleging Meta's platforms contributed to Native youth suicides. Meta also faced criticism for deploying AI-generated profiles accused of cultural appropriation, which were subsequently deleted . Its January 2025 content moderation policy changes allow users to refer to LGBTQ+ people as mentally ill , and in 2021, it rejected advertisements for disabled people's clothing . Meta objected to shareholder proposals for human rights impact assessments in 2015 and 2016 , and its Oversight Board criticized content moderation changes in January 2025 for lacking due diligence regarding human rights impact . Meta AI was made available in over 40 additional countries and multiple new languages, including Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese . The company deployed new mechanisms to route Arabic content by dialect for more precise moderation and supported UNESCO with a translation interface for 200 languages , also working to integrate Indigenous languages into Meta AI . Meta's response to cultural incidents has been criticized as ineffective and reactive, including its role in the Rohingya crisis , delayed response to UK riots , and reactive deletion of AI-generated profiles .

Safe & Smart Tech

Meta has faced significant regulatory penalties and legal challenges concerning data privacy and security. In May 2023, the EU imposed a record €1.2 billion fine for GDPR violations related to transferring European user data to the U.S. without adequate protections

, followed by a €390 million fine in January 2023 for privacy violations impacting its ad-targeting model , which Meta plans to appeal . These incidents, along with ongoing challenges from advocacy groups regarding AI data use, indicate multiple regulatory penalties and ongoing compliance failures. In March 2024, forty U.S. states urged Meta to address a significant rise in account hijackings on Facebook and Instagram , with New York experiencing a 1,000% surge since 2019 , suggesting inadequate authentication security and a reactive security posture. Furthermore, in September 2023, a U.S. District Judge ordered Meta to face a class-action lawsuit alleging its Meta Pixel tracking tool captured and relayed healthcare data without consent . In June 2024, Meta paused AI training with European user data due to privacy concerns , though a German consumer rights group's attempt to stop Meta from using public posts for AI training failed in May 2025 .

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Meta diverted 91% of its owned data center construction waste from landfills in 2024.

The company has implemented over 10 waste reduction initiatives, including eliminating plastic water bottles globally, reducing food waste, converting drywall debris into building materials, and launching a label for 2.5 million pre-owned products on Facebook Marketplace. Meta targets a 50% reduction in office waste generated by office operations by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. Circular design principles are integrated as standard practice across all new product development and hardware manufacturing processes, supported by an internal "Design for Circularity" guide. For hazardous waste, Meta focuses on eliminating hazardous substances and regularly updates its Materials of Concern Standard and Electronics Reuse and Recycling Standard. In terms of recycled content, Meta requires a minimum of 20% recycled steel in racks/chassis and 100% recycled aluminum or copper for heat sinks in data center hardware. The Meta Quest headset received a repairability score of 4 out of 10 from iFixit.