Meta Platforms Inc. will head to trial Tuesday over the allegation its social media applications are addictive and have harmed young users, a trial that could potentially see Meta paying a more than trillion-dollar fine and redesigning Facebook and Instagram.
Meta is up against 30 U.S. states, which together launched the lawsuit in 2023 alleging that the company has deliberately created addictive features in its social media products that breach consumer protection laws. If Meta loses, it’s possible the company will have to rethink how its customers use its products, making fundamental changes to the apps such as removing the “like” count feature and ending infinite scroll.
The trial, which begins Tuesday in Oakland, is expected to last several weeks and will likely see Meta’s top executives take the stand, including Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. The states suing Meta include California, New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Kentucky. Together they are seeking in the region of $1 trillion, although in a court filing ahead of the trial Meta put the number at $1.4 trillion.
Meta has called the figure “outlandish” and “disproportionate” while saying the states’ claims are unsubstantiated.
“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 penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” a Meta spokesperson said. “Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout. We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court.”
The company has been busy fighting numerous lawsuits this year, paying close to $2.4 billion in fines in the second quarter. In a recent ruling, Meta was fined $942 million after losing a case against the state of New Mexico in which the judge called the company a “public nuisance” causing “psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children to be the pollution that must be abated.”
Meta said it would appeal but will have its work cut. It faces thousands of lawsuits mostly related to the design of its social media features that for years now have been have been condemned for creating an environment that has caused a wave of mental health problems, especially in the young.
Photo: Unsplash
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