It's an analogy. Personally, I think human lives have intrinsic value. I want my species not just to survive but to prosper as much as possible for as long as possible.

To answer your question, people aren't always seen as intrinsically valuable, nor their suffering meaningful. In the wrong context, corporations, congregations, and other populations are only valued for what they produce, like how cows are valued (and raised) for their milk and meat.

Probably a reference to the individual user as an member of an aggregate “herd” that produces value for the social media platform from the perspective of the business.

There are also deeper potential meanings, though the OP did clarify some.

Cattle are products on a farm. They have purposes. A few bulls are left for breeding, the rest are gelded. Some cows are for milk. Others are fattened up as much as possible.

But all end up in the slaughterhouse. Anyone that steps out of line causes problems before that time may find themselves culled from the herd.

The purpose of the system is not to make cows happy, or meet cow needs. It's to produce as much economic product as possible.

Animal Farm uses the farm metaphor for a reason.

To me it means, phone-as-ear-tag.