GoKawiilMeta's Teen Accounts team ordered 'a/c priv' hats amid child-safety lawsuit disputes
Lawyers suing Meta over alleged harm to teens' mental health say a newly unsealed document shows the Instagram Teen Accounts team, internally called Project Nido, ordered baseball caps reading 'a/c priv' in 2024. The plaintiffs cite this as evidence that Meta has broadly and improperly invoked attorney-client privilege to shield internal research on teen harm from disclosure. A federal judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, has already ruled some of Meta's privilege claims 'entirely inappropriate' in a prior order.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The hats suggest, according to plaintiffs' attorneys, that privilege claims were treated almost as a team culture or inside joke rather than a careful legal safeguard, which could bolster arguments that Meta used privilege tactically to keep damaging research hidden. Courts generally treat attorney-client privilege narrowly, so evidence of casual or habitual over-designation could sway rulings on how much internal material Meta must disclose. The dispute over who reviews the remaining redactions—Meta or a Meta-funded neutral party—could shape how much of the company's internal deliberations on teen safety become public.
- Plaintiffs' lawyers say a Meta team ordered 'a/c priv' hats, calling it evidence of privilege misuse.
- A judge already deemed some of Meta's privilege redactions 'entirely inappropriate' in a prior ruling.
- Meta released about 65,000 previously withheld documents in April 2025, which plaintiffs say came too late to use in depositions.
Source: theverge.com — Richard Lawler, 2026-09-24
Published there as: “Meta employees ordered ‘attorney/client privilege’ hats while fighting child safety disclosures”
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