Meta hooked children, US states say, as crucial trial begins

Four US states have taken Meta to court, accusing the social media giant of deliberately making Facebook and Instagram addictive for children. Meta has denied the charges. Meta intentionally hooked and exploited children, a US federal court heard Tuesday as a landmark trial seeking to hold Meta accountable for the alleged harm its social media platforms cause children began in California. Four US states, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, argue the company misled the public about the safety of Instagram and Facebook and deliberately made the apps addictive for minors. The states are seeking around $200 billion (€173 billion) in damages as well as significant changes to Meta's core platforms. They are part of a coalition of 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023 for allegedly building addictive features into its apps. Opening statements were made in the federal court in Oakland, a short drive from San Francisco. Megan O'Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, laid out the case to the eight-person jury. "You're going to hear that Meta knew a lot about kids' brains," O'Neill said. "This includes how they are constantly seeking rewards, how they are sensitive to social feedback and how they are still developing their ability to control impulses the way adults do." She told the court of a Meta study titled "The young ones are the best ones," alleging that for the company, "kids are the product." Meta attorney Paul Schmidt said in his opening statement that there was "no dispute" that some social media users face struggles. However, he said that research showed no clear association between adolescents' social media use and their well-being. Former Meta employee and expert witness Arturo Bejar testified on Tuesday, despite the company's efforts to block his appearance at the trial. The former Meta engineering director said that during Facebook's nascent years, "the goal was to be able to get things into the hands of users as fast as possible, which meant that a lot of the time, safety or security was an afterthought." Many experts have called the trial social media's "big tobacco moment," referring to the pivotal 1990 trials of cigarette makers during which they were held accountable for selling a product they were aware was harmful. The eight jurors in the Meta trial are expected to issue an advisory verdict, but the final decision in the case rests with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. The trial is set to last six to eight weeks, with a verdict expected by October. Among the star witnesses expected to testify during the proceedings is Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.