Instagram made attorney-client privilege swag hats for employees who concealed kids safety docs in court battle

Instagram allegedly made hats for its employees with the phrase “attorney-client privilege” – an “utterly sick” joke about using legal loopholes to conceal explosive legal documents about kids social media addiction, according to critics.A photo of the company’s “swag” hats – baseball caps that displayed the legal lingo “a/c priv,” shorthand for “attorney-client privilege” — surfaced this week in California federal court, where a coalition of school districts have accused Meta of fueling a teen mental health crisis.The hats were printed up to celebrate the 2024 launch of Instagram’s Teen Accounts, known internally as “Project Nido,” a bid to address kids safety concerns that have included eating disorders, depression and teen suicide.In an internal chat on Sept.9, 2024, a Meta employee informed Naomi Gleit, the company’s head of product, that Instagram’s legal team had “reviewed and are OK with the Nido Swag,” according to court documents that were unsealed on Monday.That shows that the company’s lawyers signed off on merchandise that intentionally made light of Meta’s reliance on “attorney/client privilege” to redact court documents, plaintiffs alleged.“Perhaps nothing better illustrates the culture of privilege abuse at Meta than the swag purchased by members of the Teen Accounts team, aka “Project Nido,” attorneys for the plaintiffs said in a court filing.

“Notably even that decision was reviewed and signed off on by Instagram legal,” the plaintiffs added.Some skittish employees apparently weren’t convinced by their counsel’s assurances.On Sept.

6, 2024, an employee whose name was redacted asked, “is there any meta or IG logo on the hat anywhere?” – seeemingly concerned about being identified in public.It’s unclear if the hats were ever actually distributed to employees, and Meta declined to comment.Critics say the baseball caps are proof that Mark Zuckerberg’s firm has a twisted “cultu...