Meta Platforms rejected accusations by US states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, as a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet began Tuesday. A bipartisan group from 29 U.S. states is suing Meta, potentially seeking tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in fines and changes to the way Meta does business. Four leading states (California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey) accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users. fueling anxiety, depression and even suicide, and misleading consumers about the safety of the platforms. The 29 states accused Meta of violating federal law by improperly collecting and using children’s personal data. Experts have called the trial in federal court in Oakland, California, which heard opening statements Tuesday, the biggest legal test yet of social media’s effects on young users. Meta and other social media companies, including Snap, TikTok parent ByteDance, and YouTube parent Alphabet, face thousands of lawsuits from states, municipalities, school districts and individuals over whether their products harm young users. Megan O’Neill, California’s deputy attorney general, told the eight-person jury that Meta’s business model was to “hook users, retain them for as long as possible, collect their data, and then hide the truth from the public.” “It worked especially well for the kids,” O’Neill added. “Meta needed children and needed to reassure the people who cared about those children that they are safe.” Meta accused of deliberately hooking young users: The lawsuit says Meta made its platforms “addictive” to young people. A landmark federal trial is already underway in the US over the safety of young people on Meta platforms. States including California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking billions of dollars in damages for product designs that are allegedly “addictive” to children. The trial is expected to last at least six weeks, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri could be called to testify. Meta’s lawyer, Paul Schmidt, said there was “no doubt” that some social media users face difficulties, but that research did not show a clear link between teenagers’ social media use and poor well-being. He also said that Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, shared the company’s desire to “improve its services and not make them dangerous.” They don’t think they’re going to do well if people don’t like their service,” Schmidt said. The judge could order changes to Instagram, Facebook. Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict (a non-binding position that the judge could take into consideration as a guide), but U.S. District Judge Yvonne González Rogers will ultimately determine. Meta’s liability. If she finds Meta liable, Rogers could impose civil penalties and order changes to Facebook and Instagram. Meta has said fines could reach $1.4 billion. dollars, close to the market value of the Menlo Park, California-based company. Attorneys general said at a hearing last week that the amount could approach $200 billion, or about three years of after-tax profits for Meta. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey also want Meta to overhaul Facebook and Instagram, including eliminating likes and infinite scrolling that encourage viewing new posts, setting time limits for younger users and enforcing restrictions to keep children under 10 offline. 13 years WATCH | Meta targets Alberta for AI data center: Meta to invest billions in Alberta AI data centerMeta is investing approximately $13 billion to build its first AI data center in Canada, located an hour from Edmonton The project promises to create thousands of jobs, but some are concerned about its environmental impact First witness testifies After concluding opening arguments, former Meta security engineer Arturo Béjar began testifying as the first. States witness Bejar has long said that Meta knew its child safety tools were broken and has testified against the company in four trials. Meta attempted to block her testimony, allegedly for deleting Signal messages with former employees, but Rogers rejected what she saw as a risky attempt to eliminate a key witness. Bejar told jurors that “moving fast and breaking things” was a mantra at Meta, which she said took a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to monitoring children under age. 13 years were online. “A lot of products were sent out into the world,” like the short Reels videos, “and security was not a consideration in the way it was initially implemented,” Bejar said. Employees viewed Instagram as a ‘drug,’ Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri claim. The trial is scheduled to last six weeks. US$543.67 O’Neill said the states were not trying to put Meta out of business, saying social media “has some benefits for some people.” But he said Meta exploits children by investigating how their brains work and react to online stimuli, and that the goal was to “spend teen time” and that Meta employees saw Instagram as a “drug” and themselves as “dealers.” “If you’re a kid when you start using the app, the better,” O’Neill said. Schmidt acknowledged that employees could use “weak” language in private, but said Meta’s products were not addictive and that jurors would hear what the employee who called Instagram a drug did to make it safer. Critics gather outside court Some Meta critics spoke outside court as the trial began. Among them was Mary Rodee, who said her 15-year-old son, Riley Basford, committed suicide in 2021. after being the victim of a predator on Facebook. “They call it spontaneous suicide,” she said. “I call it what it was: the predictable result of a system that protects corporations instead of children.” Mary Rodee, mother of Riley Basford, spoke outside the Oakland courthouse on Tuesday as parents of children whose deaths were allegedly linked to social media use held a news conference to mark the start of the trial. (Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters) 2023, two years after whistleblower Frances Haugen told a US Senate committee that Meta knew its products were not safe for children and knew how to make them safe, but did nothing to make more profits. In March, a Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and Google to pay $6 million to a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child. Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million. of dollars to address teen mental health after that state’s attorney general called its platforms a public nuisance. Tennessee’s attorney general is also suing Meta, raising similar claims about Instagram. That case is being tried in Nashville.
