Meta’s Sponsorship of National PTA Under Fire After Son’s Suicide in Sextortion Scandal on Messenger App

Following the tragic suicide of her 15-year-old son Riley, who was a victim of sextortion through Meta’s Messenger app, Mary Rodee has been advocating for stronger online protections for children. In an interview, she accused Meta of being solely responsible for the safety of its users due to their perceived lack of action against such harmful activities.

Rodee joins a growing number of concerned parents who question organizations that claim to protect children but accept funding from social media companies like Meta. One such group is the National Parent Teacher Association (N PTA), a nonprofit with over 20,000 chapters and nearly 4 million members across the country. According to its website, the N PTA aims to improve education, health, and safety for all children.

However, a report published by Tech Transparency Project (TTP) on Tuesday alleges that the N PTA’s relationship with Meta gives an impression of expert approval to the social media company’s efforts to keep young users engaged on its platforms. The report claims that Meta’s tactics are employed to counter concerns about the potential harm of services like Instagram towards teens, thus shaping public opinion.

Meta has been a sponsor of the N PTA for several years, while the education advocacy group has promoted the company’s child safety initiatives without always disclosing its financial ties to Meta. The N PTA and Meta have collaborated since at least 2010, with Meta’s presence listed in the group’s events and social media posts.

Rodee, from Canton, New York, expresses her disappointment towards such organizations that accept money from companies like Meta without acknowledging any potential negative consequences. Both Meta and the N PTA declined to disclose the exact amount of funding provided by Meta to the group.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said they partner with expert organizations to educate parents about their safety tools and protections for teens, similar to what many other tech companies do. The N PTA stated that its collaboration with Meta provides an opportunity to help inform families about safety on its apps and the available tools and resources.

Meta enlisted the N PTA’s help in 2017 to roll out Messenger Kids, a chat app for children under 13. Facebook became a founding sponsor of the PTA Connected initiative the following year in 2018. The N PTA can often be seen supporting Meta products on its Instagram account.

Riley was one of the victims of sextortion on Meta’s platforms. Sextortion involves threatening to expose sexually compromising information unless certain demands are met. He was blackmailed by a person posing as a teenage girl on Facebook Messenger, according to Rodee. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission accused Meta of misleading parents about their ability to control who their children communicate with on the Messenger Kids app.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security received over 3,000 sextortion tips in 2022, according to the Justice Department. The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Meta is just one example of criticism faced by social media platforms for their impact on children. A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general sued Meta in 2023, alleging that features on Facebook and Instagram are addictive and targeted at kids and teens.

Critics argue that the N PTA’s acceptance of funding from social media companies puts children at risk by giving these companies a veneer of approval. The N PTA’s other sponsors include Google, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord. In 2024, TikTok gave the N PTA over $300,000 for programs about teens and social media, despite facing mounting criticism over its impact on teens.

Other parent groups, like Smartphone Free Childhood U.S. and Parents for Safe Online Spaces, have expressed concern over accepting funding from social media companies they view as harmful to their children. The N PTA is just one example of Meta’s strategy, according to the TTP report. Meta also created Trust, Transparency & Control Labs (TTC Labs) in 2017, which collaborates on safety efforts. While TTC Labs is clearly labeled as a Meta creation, it has produced reports on Instagram Teen Accounts and Horizon Worlds, which Meta has cited as evidence of its commitment to child safety.