Meta’s Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook have once again been flagged as the most privacy-violating social media apps. According to Incogni’s Social Media Privacy Ranking report 2025, Meta and TikTok are at the bottom of the list. Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has also received poor rankings in various categories, but has done better than Meta in a few categories.
Discord, Pinterest, and Quora perform well
The report analyzed 15 of the most widely used social media platforms globally, measuring them against 14 privacy criteria organized into six different categories: AI data use, user control, ease of access, regulatory transgressions, transparency, and data collection. The research methodology focused on how an average user could understand and control privacy policies.
Discord, Pinterest, and Quora have done best in the 2025 ranking. Discord is placed first, thanks to its stance on not giving user data for training of AI models. Pinterest ranks second, thanks to its strong user options and fewer regulatory penalties. Quora came third thanks to its limited user data collection.
Why were Meta platforms penalized?
But the Meta platforms were penalized strongly in various categories. Facebook was penalized for frequent regulatory fines, such as GDPR rules in Europe, and penalties in the US and other regions. Instagram and WhatsApp received heavy penalties due to policies allowing the collection of sensitive personal data, such as sexual orientation and health. X faced penalties for vast data collection
Penalties against X
X was penalized for vast data collection and privacy fines from the past, but it still ranked above Meta and TikTok in some categories. X was among the easiest platforms to delete accounts from, and also provided information to government organizations at was lower rate than other platforms. Yet, X allows user data to be trained for AI models, which has impacted its overall privacy score.
“One of the core principles motivating Incogni’s research here is the idea that consent to have personal information gathered and processed has to be properly informed to be valid and meaningful. It’s research like this that arms users with not only the facts but also the tools to inform their choices,” Incogni said in its blog.