Meta faces landmark trial over claims it intentionally hooked young users

Meta faces landmark trial over claims it intentionally hooked young users

A long-running legal fight is reaching a high-stakes moment this week as Meta faces allegations from a group of states that it intentionally designed its social media platforms to hook young users and downplayed safety risks in public. Join The Hill Legal Affairs Reporter Sophie Brams and Business and Tech Reporter Julia Shapero as they...

Meta back in court over alleged social media risks to children

Meta and more than two dozen states are returning to an Oakland federal courtroom Wednesday for a high-profile trial focused on the potential dangers of social media for young people. More testimony is expected from the first witness in the case, a former Meta employee turned whistleblower. At the center of the case are questions about whether social media is intentionally addictive and dangerous, what Meta knew about potential risks and what responsibility the company has to protect young users. During opening statements Tuesday, California’s deputy attorney general argued that Meta harves...

Meta knowingly hooked children and misled public, prosecutors tell court

Meta knowingly hooked and exploited children, a US federal court heard Tuesday in a trial against the social media giant on charges that it deliberately made Instagram and Facebook addictive to young users. In what many experts have called social media's "big tobacco moment," a coalition of states is asking that Meta be penalised by around $200 billion for designing products addictive to children.

Meta hooked children on Facebook and Instagram, court hears

In Meta's trial, families of social media victims see a pivotal moment for online safety

As opening statements kicked off Tuesday in a trial for Meta Platforms, advocates and parents of social media victims gathered outside the federal courthouse in Oakland, California, with a banner that stretched several feet across. Written on it in black ink were the names of children and young adults who have died from social media related harms, including deaths by suicide after bouts of cyberbullying or sextortion. Giovanni, an 11-year-old, Bubba, a 13-year-old, and Englyn, a 14-year-old, were among the nearly 600 names. Parents said the names were “just the tip of the iceberg.” “Behind ...

A look at major lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies over harms to kids

Meta is kicking off a court battle with some of the highest stakes yet. But it is far from the only litigation facing the social media giant and its competitors. In a federal trial beginning Tuesday in Oakland, California, the Instagram and Facebook parent company is fighting claims that it has contributed to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features that get children addicted. It’s one of many courtrooms around the country where Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube have been defending themselves against allegations their platforms have negatively impacted children’s m...

Trial for Meta begins with states arguing its platforms preyed on vulnerability of young brains

Meta is once again on trial over dangers its platforms may pose to children. It is once again arguing that it works tirelessly to keep them safe. A pivotal trial for the parent company of Instagram and Facebook kicked off in a California federal court Tuesday, with four states seeking billions of dollars in damages as well as fundamental changes to how Meta runs its platforms. A jury will decide whether the states’ attorneys general have made their case that the tech giant designed its apps to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data and hide the truth from the...