Meta Faces Trial Over Claims Its Platforms Were Designed to Addict Children
A group of 29 US states, led by four attorneys general, is suing Meta, alleging it designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to young people and hid what it knew about the risks. The trial matters for families because it examines whether parents were misled about the dangers children face online.
A federal trial has begun in Oakland, California, in which four US states, acting on behalf of a group of 29 states that filed a joint lawsuit in 2023, accuse Meta of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to keep young people on the platforms and of violating child privacy law. The states are seeking billions of dollars and substantial changes to the platforms. The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks and to include testimony from Meta's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.
In opening arguments, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neill described Meta's business model as an effort to "hook the users; hold them for as long as they can; harvest their data; hide the truth from the public". She told the jury that the company understood how children's brains seek reward and respond to social feedback, and that its apps were built to keep young people returning.
O'Neill referenced internal Meta documents that she said estimate 20% of 11-year-olds and 30% of 12-year-olds in the US are on Instagram, despite the company's policy that children should not use the apps. She argued that tools such as a daily time limit served to improve the company's public image rather than to protect children, telling the court that only 0.05% of users meaningfully adopted the daily limit.
The states want Meta to make significant changes, including parental verification for teenage users, altering its recommendation algorithms, ending autoplay of video, and removing disappearing posts such as Instagram Stories. Meta says it "strongly disagrees" with the allegations and that evidence will show its "longstanding commitment to supporting young people". It has consistently denied deliberately making its platforms addictive.
The Foundation notes that the case turns on a question central to families: whether parents were given the truth about the risks their children face on these platforms.
The original reporting on this development was provided by BBC News.
Sources
- BBC News bbc.com