Opening statements in a landmark US case brought by a bipartisan coalition of 29 states against Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – began on Tuesday, with Colorado, California, New Jersey and Kentucky arguing that the company’s popular social media apps were designed in ways that harmed the mental health of young users. The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, began in a US federal court in California before District Judge Yvonne González Rogers. While there is an eight-person jury, the group plays an advisory role as Judge Rogers will ultimately decide the case. 4 Item Recommended Stories List Final List Megan O’Neill, California’s deputy attorney general, in her opening statement said the company designed its products to “hook users, retain them for as long as possible, collect their data, and then hide the truth from the public.” He added that it worked “especially well for the children.” The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2023, alleges that Meta made decisions to design its apps to hook users and facilitate overuse among the platforms’ younger users. The coalition also alleges that the company collected data on children under the age of 13 in violation of federal law. “Meta needed children and needed to assure the people who cared about those children that the children are safe,” O’Neill said. ‘Limited claims’ Meta has long rejected allegations against the Silicon Valley social media giant. strong protections for teens, including the launch of Instagram Teen Accounts in 2024, which limit who can contact underage users, as well as a feature that allows parents to set usage time limits. “State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are grossly disproportionate,” Meta spokesperson Stephanie Otway told Al Jazeera in a statement. As having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed its residents and attempts to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges such as age verification, instead of sticking to the facts or the law, the states have decided to pursue an extravagant payment. “The potential impact on Meta’s bottom line is existential. The company could face fines of up to $1.4 trillion, just shy of its $1.5 trillion market capitalization. However, the coalition is seeking fines of approximately $200 billion. Meta has already been ordered to pay $942 million in fines in a separate lawsuit in New Mexico: $375 million in civil penalties in a jury verdict in March and $567 million ordered by a judge earlier this month. Meta has acknowledged that the lawsuits it faces, including those related to youth addiction to social media, could lead to “substantial monetary damages or fines” in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January. nextMeta, along with other social media giants, has faced a growing list of cases across the United States, including from cities, states, school districts and even individuals. introduction of new age restrictions and the elimination of infinite scrolling. The impetus for the case came from a US Senate committee hearing in 2021, when whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, claimed that the company knowingly pushed products that could affect the health of young users while the company led by Mark Zuckerberg sought higher profits. Meta has repeatedly tried to end the coalition’s lawsuit, including in 2024 and as recently as June, when it requested a trial. summary (a decision a court could make without going to trial) that would have ended the lawsuit. The case is weighing on the company’s stock. On Wall Street, the social media giant has lost more than 3 percent in midday trading.
