Meta faces major US trial over alleged harm to children’s mental health

One of the largest lawsuits against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, over allegations that its platforms harm children’s mental health has begun in California.

The trial opened at a district court in Oakland, California, before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, with both sides presenting their opening arguments, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

Speaking for the plaintiffs, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill argued that Meta’s business model is based on “hooking users and collecting their data.”

She claimed that this strategy is particularly effective among children and that Meta designed its platforms to encourage young users to keep coming back.

O’Neill told the jury that the plaintiffs would demonstrate how children are drawn to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and how features designed to keep users on the apps or encourage them to return make them “addicted” to the platforms.

She also argued that tools intended to limit the amount of time children spend on the apps do not provide meaningful protection, claiming they exist primarily to improve Meta’s public image and make parents feel more comfortable.

O’Neill said the presence of accounts belonging to young children on Facebook and Instagram was not an accident but a choice made by the company. She said the plaintiffs would ultimately ask the jury to “hold Meta accountable.”

Meta says it has worked to protect young users

Representing Meta, attorney Paul Schmidt argued that the company has a history of sharing information with the public about the potential harms associated with social media.

Schmidt presented the jury with documents concerning young people’s social media use. He said one survey found that 20 percent of teenagers reported that Instagram made them feel bad, while Meta employees were actively working to find ways to help those young people feel better.

Schmidt urged the jury to remain “open-minded” and refrain from reaching a final conclusion until the end of the trial. He argued that the states bringing the case would have to prove that Meta knew about features allegedly targeting children but failed to remove them.

He also said Meta was not legally permitted to retain certain child-related data that could enable it to build computer models for identifying users under 13. Schmidt said Facebook, and later Instagram, had always required users to provide their age and allowed people to report users who appeared to be below the minimum age requirement.

Trial expected to last several weeks

The trial is expected to last several weeks. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, current and former Meta employees, and psychology experts are among those expected to testify.

The case involves claims brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey under state laws, as well as federal-law claims involving other states.

Claims concerning the “design and addiction” allegations under the laws of the remaining 25 states will be addressed in separate hearings at a later date.

The jury selected for the trial will have only an advisory role. Judge Rogers will make the final decision on whether Meta is liable and, if so, what penalties or sanctions should be imposed.

The outcome could influence how claims brought by the other states are resolved, potentially reshape the way Facebook and Instagram operate and expose Meta to billions of dollars in penalties.

Meta has estimated that if it loses the case, it could face penalties of up to $1.4 trillion. The company says the potential amount is close to its market value and would represent an unprecedented figure in legal history.

States seek financial penalties and changes to Meta’s business practices

A group of U.S. states, including California, New York and Colorado, sued Meta in October 2023.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta deliberately used design features to make children and teenagers dependent on Facebook and Instagram in order to generate more advertising revenue, while misleading the public despite knowing about the serious impact on young people’s physical and mental health.

The states allege that Meta’s primary objective was to keep young users spending more time on its platforms and that the company knowingly developed features that exploited vulnerabilities in developing teenage brains.

The features cited in the lawsuit include recommendation algorithms designed to trigger dopamine responses, “Like” buttons that can encourage social comparison, constant notifications that draw young users back to the apps, visual filters associated with body-image problems, and “infinite scrolling” designed to make it difficult to stop using the platforms.

The states also allege that Meta’s internal research showed that its platforms could contribute to serious problems among young people, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and disruption to daily life, but that the company denied these effects and published misleading reports.

Meta is also accused of violating laws designed to protect children’s online privacy by allegedly collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental consent.

The states are seeking an end to what they describe as Meta’s ongoing unlawful practices, as well as other penalties available under state and federal law.

These sanctions could include substantial financial penalties and an order requiring Meta to change the way it operates Facebook and Instagram.

Photo: META