Meta's federal trial over child social media addiction set to begin
The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms.
The federal trial for Meta Platforms commenced on Tuesday in a California court, with states seeking billions of dollars in damages for alleged harms to children caused by social media platforms. Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are pursuing a potential penalty of up to $1.4 trillion, along with changes to Facebook and Instagram's operations.
These states are among 29 that filed a lawsuit in 2023 over child safety and privacy, with the remaining 25 states set to go to trial later. The case accuses Meta of knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent, violating federal law.
A jury will decide if the states' attorneys general have proven their case that Meta's apps were designed to hook users, hold them for as long as possible, harvest their data, and hide the truth from the public. Paul Schmidt, Meta's attorney, argued that research does not support claims that social media harms adolescents' well-being and that Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg focus on building and improving technology for their users.
States claim Meta exploited research on child development, using it to manipulate Instagram features. The trial, overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, is expected to last six to eight weeks and includes testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives and former employees.
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