On Tuesday, Meta is scheduled to appear in an Oakland courtroom to answer charges from several state attorneys general.
The lawsuit alleges that the company has breached child safety and consumer protection laws and damaged children’s mental well-being.
The trial begins Tuesday before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It is part of a lawsuit filed by 29 states in 2023.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that Meta “created and improved a range of psychologically manipulative features on its platform,” such as infinite scroll, autoplay, likes, and others, aimed at increasing the time young users spend on its social media sites.
California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are participating in the trial, which will likely feature testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.
The states also claim that Meta was aware its apps negatively affected users, leading to increased anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, yet it deceived them by asserting that its products are safe.
The plaintiffs say Meta breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by intentionally allowing children under 13 to access its platform and collecting their data without parental consent.
“The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated, and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
“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. 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.”
Meta has denied the allegations, asserting that the charges could total up to $1.4 trillion.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
