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See the full story · 6 sourcesThe trial comes as social media companies are facing a global backlash over concerns that they profit at the expense of young users.
Listen Summarise Meta faces a $1.8 trillion legal threat from 29 US states accusing it of designing Facebook and Instagram to encourage addictive use among young users. The trial will examine alleged violations of consumer protection and privacy laws, with potential penalties up to $1.4 trillion, close to Meta’s market value. States seek court orders to change Meta’s platform features, including banning addictive tools and restricting young users, amid growing concerns over social media’s impact on youth mental health. AI generated
SAN FRANCISCO - Meta Platforms is headed to court on Aug 18 for a high-stakes showdown with a coalition of state attorneys-general over claims that the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to encourage compulsive use among young users.
In a case that carries enormous risk for one of the world’s most valuable tech companies, the top legal officers of 29 states are seeking not only massive financial penalties, but also court orders that could force Meta to change how it operates its platforms.
The jury trial in federal court in Oakland, California, comes as social media companies are facing a global backlash over concerns that they profit at the expense of young users, for whom a growing body of research shows that heavy use of the algorithm-driven platforms can be dangerously unhealthy.
While the authorities in Australia and Europe have enacted or proposed outright bans for the youth in the last year, legislative crackdowns in the US have had limited success, turning the courts into a pivotal battleground.
The Meta trial is especially momentous because it is focused on alleged violations of state consumer protection and federal privacy laws – which carry fines of up to US$20,000 (S$25,500) per violation that can add up quickly when multiplied by millions of young Instagram and Facebook users.
“The stakes could not be higher in this case,” said Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School who specialises in internet law.
While the attorneys-general have not publicly disclosed exactly how much they are seeking in penalties, Megan O’Neill, a lawyer for California, put the figure closer to US$193 billion during a court hearing last week, while suggesting that Meta was pointing to the highest theoretical amount for “shock value”.
Even the lower amount would be among the largest ever litigation payouts, comparable with the US$206 billion settlement that state attorneys-general struck with tobacco companies over cigarette addiction in 1998.
Other social media giants – like Alphabet’s Google, Snap and TikTok – are not part of this trial.
But like Meta, they all face billions of dollars in potential exposure from more than 3,000 personal injury claims by individuals and families in the US, and about 1,300 more lawsuits by public school districts across the nation.
Some of the cases have already settled, avoiding trials, while more bellwether cases loom in the months ahead.
The lawyers behind the cases have gained traction in court by arguing that the products themselves – through their design and functionality – have created harms, rather than taking aim at content, for which platforms are broadly protected from liability.
This strategy, several years in the making, succeeded in its first test when a Los Angeles jury in March awarded US$6 million to a 20-year-old woman who said her non-stop use for more than a decade of sites including Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube caused her to suffer anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.
Meta has denied the states’ allegations and accused the attorneys-general of seeking unreasonable design changes and an “outlandish payout”.
At the trial, the jury will be serving only in an advisory capacity. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will ultimately decide whether Meta is liable for wrongdoing and, if so, what penalty and remedies to impose.
The attorneys-general spearheading the case, from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, allege under their separate state laws that Meta knowingly designed features that encouraged compulsive and prolonged use of its platforms by young people, while simultaneously misleading consumers about safety features on its platforms.
The broader bipartisan group of 29 states accuse the company of collecting data from users under 13 years old in violation of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
In addition to seeking an order requiring Meta to restrict younger users on its platforms, the states seek to force the company to remove allegedly addictive features like infinite scroll and its content recommendation systems.
“We are ready to hold Meta accountable for its role in fueling the mental health crisis of American children and look forward to trial,” California Attorney-General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Meta said in a statement that while the attorneys-general tout the case as a landmark, “their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate”.
“The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalise Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” according to the company.
After opening statements on Aug 18 , the trial is expected to take about five weeks. Meta co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are lined up to testify, as are dozens of other witnesses, including current and former Meta employees as well as experts in technology and psychology.
The trial comes on the heels of a nearly US$1 billion hit for Meta in a case brought by New Mexico’s attorney-general .
A state court judge in Santa Fe likened Meta to a polluting factory and ordered the...
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