‘Harvest their data and hide the truth from the public’: Four states seek billions from Meta over child safety practices
The suit looks to make fundamental changes to how Meta runs its social media platforms to better serve child privacy and safety.
A group of four states, California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, are seeking billions of dollars in damages and demanding significant changes to how Meta manages its platforms following a trial that began in a California federal court. The four states are accusing Meta of targeting children's mental health by designing features to addict them and keep their data hidden from the public.
The lawsuit claims Meta harvested data from children under 13 without their parents' consent, in violation of federal law. In her opening statement, Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, stated that Meta knew about children's brain vulnerabilities and exploited them. Former Meta executive Arturo Béjar testified that the company's research was not used to improve products but was often reduced to insignificant changes.
Meta's attorney, Paul Schmidt, argued that the companies' safety efforts were commendable, but it's unclear how significant these efforts would be in preventing harm to children.
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