Meta faces child safety lawsuit over alleged addictive design and privacy misstatements

Claimants argued that Facebook and Instagram had purposefully fostered addiction in children and teenagers, spreading anxiety and depression.

Meta and coalition of state attorneys general settled a federal trial centering on allegations that the social media giant misrepresented the extent of child-related mental health harms.

Meta and state attorneys general have discussed a potential mid-trial settlement of a lawsuit accusing the company of deliberately ​designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to young users

Meta Platforms Inc. and state attorneys general have discussed a possible mid-trial settlement of a blockbuster case accusing the company of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to addict teens, people familiar with the matter said.

A flood of lawsuits against social media giants claim that by engineering their platforms to be hard to resist, the companies are causing serious harm to young users. In the first personal injury case to go to trial, a Los Angeles jury in March found Meta Platforms Inc. and Google negligent in the design and operation of their platforms — awarding $6 million to a 20-year-old woman in a landmark verdict.

Twenty-nine US states are suing Meta, alleging exploitative product design targeting young users. The lawsuit claims Meta concealed internal research about potential harms to teenagers. States seek substantial financial penalties and court-ordered product redesigns for Facebook and Instagram. A former Meta engineer will testify as a key witness in the ongoing trial. This case could significantly influence future social media platform regulations globally.

The claims against Meta are that it deliberately designed and monetised Instagram and Facebook to exploit the psychological vulnerabilities of children and teenagers

Meta is facing a landmark legal battle with 29 states accusing the company of deliberately designing its platforms to keep children hooked while misleading the public about their safety. George Washington University law professor Mary Anne Franks explains the state and federal claims, why the case has drawn comparisons to tobacco litigation, and why the biggest consequence may not be the potential financial penalty, but what internal documents reveal about what Meta knew and when. She joins Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech." (Source: Bloomberg)

A multistate lawsuit against Meta is putting a growing question in the spotlight: How does social media affect young people, and can its use become addictive?

Meta knowingly hooked and exploited children, a US federal court heard on Tuesday in a trial against the social media giant on charges that it deliberately made Instagram and Facebook addictive to 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...

New York —  Meta’s business relies on hooking young people and exploiting their data and attention, a lawyer for a group of state attorneys general argued in opening statements for the latest blockbuster trial against the social media giant on Tuesday. The trial could be Meta’s most consequential legal fight yet over youth safety and addiction. … The post Meta is back in the courtroom to face its biggest social media addiction trial yet appeared first on Egypt Independent.

Meta is on trial for intentionally seeking to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday, at the start of a trial that could rehsape some of the most popular apps in the world. 

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms META.O rejected accusations by U.S. states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

Meta denied allegations that it intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children for profit, as a trial brought by 29 US states began in Oakland, California.States allege deliberate design to hook young usersA bipartisan coalition of states is seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and business changes from Meta. Four lead states - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - accused the company of designing its platforms to hook young users, contributing to anxiety, depression and suicide, and misleading the public about their safety. All 29 states allege Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting children's data.Reuters reports that California deputy attorney general Megan O'Neill told the eight-person jury that Meta's business model was built to 'hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth'. She said an internal email to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri identified 'teen time spent' as a goal, and that employees privately described Instagram as a 'drug'.Meta says no clear link to harmMeta's lawyer, Paul Schmidt, said research does not show a clear connection between adolescent social media use and reduced well-being, and that CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants the company's products to be safe rather than harmful. Schmidt acknowledged employees sometimes used 'loose' internal language but said Meta's products are not addictive.Judge to decide liability; penalties could reach $1.4 trillionJurors will issue an advisory verdict, but US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will determine Meta's liability and could order civil penalties and platform changes, including eliminating likes and infinite scroll, imposing time limits for younger users, and blocking children under 13. Meta has estimated potential penalties at up to $1.4 trillion, while state attorneys general have suggested a figure closer to $200 billion.First witness testifies on internal safety cultureFormer Meta safety engineer Arturo Bejar, the states' first witness, told jurors that 'move fast and break things' was a company mantra, and that Meta took a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach to underage users. Zuckerberg and Mosseri are expected to testify during the six-week trial. Meta shares closed down 4.4 percent.

A landmark trial has begun in California over allegations Meta deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive.

A bipartisan group of 29 US states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business

OAKLAND: Opening arguments begin on Tuesday in the federal trial of Meta, the social media titan accused of deliberately making Instagram and Facebook platforms addictive to children, with a coalition of states seeking $200 billion dollars in penalties. In what many experts have called social media’s “big tobacco moment,” Meta stands charged with harming children by using technology specifically designed to foster addiction among young users in a similar fashion to cigarettes. The case could be “the beginning of a broader reckoning” for Meta, Stanford law professor Nora Freeman Engstrom told AFP via email, with the company facing the prospect of having to entirely overhaul its two enormously popular global platforms if it loses. The company has denied all the allegations, insisting it had worked with parents, experts and law enforcement to incorporate protective safeguards for children. Meta founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg is among the star witnesses expected to testify, along with Instagram head Adam Mosseri. This is the first federal trial in what is expected to be a tidal wave of lawsuits also targeting Tiktok, Snapchat and YouTube as families, educators and state governments charge them with harming the mental health of young people. Four states — Cali­for­nia, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — are representing a coalition of 29 states that first sued Meta in 2023. The charges are three-fold: that Meta lied to the public about how dangerous its apps are for minors; designed some features specifically to get them hooked; and gathered data on children under age 13 without parental consent. Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2026

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.

OAKLAND, United States(AFP)—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 penalized by around $200 billion for designing products addictive to children. The states are intervening where "Congress failed to act," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Tuesday afternoon during a press conference, noting that -- like landmark cases against tobacco companies from decades past -- this case, too, involved "public health, and in some cases, marketing to kids that hurt kids." During opening statements, California prosecutor Megan O'Neill painted Meta's business model as one intended to "hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public." Meta "exploited how kids' brains work," O'Neill said. Meta's lawyer, Paul Schmidt, acknowledged that some users had negative experiences on the apps, but argued that the company had "tried to come up with tools to help them." Before the trial began, the company denied the allegations, insisting it had worked with parents, experts and law enforcement to incorporate safeguards for children. Former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar testified that during Facebook's early 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." Days before the trial, Meta attempted to block Bejar from testifying, a move which the judge denied. - Mothers rally - This is not the first case seeking to hold tech companies, including Meta, accountable for these types of issues, but it could become one of the most consequential if it forces Meta to make sweeping changes. Activists, including mothers of children they say were driven to suicide by their social media usage, rallied outside court. One mother, Lori Schott, called out Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri, saying they "built one of those most powerful and richest companies in the world... But power does not excuse harm." Zuckerberg and Mosseri are among the star witnesses expected to testify, according to court documents. In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, California Attorney General Rob Bonta declined to confirm whether Zuckerberg would be called to the stand. - First of many? - This is the first federal trial in what is expected to be a tidal wave of lawsuits targeting social media companies, including TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. Families, educators and state governments in the United States accuse the companies of harming the mental health of young people. Meta, which has more than three billion users worldwide, is the sole defendant in the Oakland case. In addition to financial penalties, the states are demanding changes to Meta's apps to protect young users, including limits to screen time. Four states -- California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey -- are representing a coalition of 29 states that first sued Meta in 2023. The charges are threefold: that Meta lied to the public about how dangerous its apps are for minors; designed some features specifically to get them hooked and keep them online, including screen-time-limiting ones that are easy to get around; and gathered data on children under age 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law. The trial is expected to last around six weeks, with a verdict expected by October. For Meta, "the huge issue here is reputational harm" and being forced to make major changes to Facebook and Instagram, Vincent Joralemon, a director at Berkeley's Life Sciences Law and Policy Center, told AFP. "It really feels like tobacco in the 1990s," Joralemon said. While cases about social media harms revolve around the intersection of technology and addiction, the case against Meta focuses on its business practices, similar to when US regulators sued tobacco companies, Joralemon said. Dozens of US states sued four major tobacco companies for downplaying the harmful health impacts of their products, and won a 1998 landmark settlement that included financial penalties and changes to product marketing. Those tobacco companies have paid over $176 billion since, according to data from the National Association of Attorneys General.

New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac joins CBS News to break down the landmark social media trial against Meta that's currently underway, with parents accusing the tech giant of designing its platforms to be addictive and harmful to children.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta built its apps to be addictive for kids and then lied to the public about health risks so it could rake in massive profits, a California prosecutor said as a historic federal trial kicked off Tuesday.

A trial got underway Tuesday in California's multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Meta, a case that experts say could have major implications for how social media companies operate and target young users.

OAKLAND, United States (AFP) — Meta hooked and exploited children, a federal court heard Tuesday in the trial of 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 demanding Meta pay $200 billion in penalties for using technology specifically designed to foster addiction among children in a similar fashion to cigarettes. "Meta's business model can be summed up with four simple parts: hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public," California Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neill told the court in opening arguments. Meta "exploited how kids' brains work," she said. The company has denied all the allegations, insisting it had worked with parents, experts and law enforcement to incorporate protective safeguards for children. Meta founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg is among the star witnesses expected to testify, along with Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Outside the court, mothers of children who they say were driven to take their own lives as a direct result of social media usage called for Meta to be held to account. "I have a message for Meta, Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri: You built one of the most powerful and richest companies in the world," said one mother, Lori Schott. "But power does not excuse harm. Profits do not erase the responsibility of big tech, and no company, no matter how wealthy, no matter how influential, no matter how untouchable it feels it is, should get to stand above the truth, the law, and our children," Schott said. This is the first federal trial in what is expected to be a tidal wave of lawsuits also targeting Tiktok, Snapchat and YouTube as families, educators and state governments charge them with harming the mental health of young people. Meta, which has more than three billion users around the world, is on trial by itself in this case. Meta "strongly disagrees" with the allegations in the trial, a spokesperson told AFP. In addition to financial penalties, the states are demanding changes to Meta's apps to protect young users including limits to screen time. Four states -- California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey -- are representing a coalition of 29 states that first sued Meta in 2023. The charges are three-fold: that Meta lied to the public about how dangerous its apps are for minors; designed some features specifically to get them hooked and stay online, including screen time-limiting ones that are easy to get around; and gathered data on children under age 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law. The trial is expected to last six weeks, with a verdict expected by October.

Meta Platforms intentionally sought to ⁠addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. A bipartisan group of 29 US states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business. Four lead states – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – accuse Meta of designing Facebook and...

OAKLAND — Meta Platforms intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. A bipartisan group of 29 U.S. states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business. Four lead states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, fueling anxiety, depression and even suicide, and misleading consumers about the platforms' safety. Jurors will hear claims by all 29 states that Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using personal data of children while they used its platforms. Megan O'Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told the eight-person jury in Oakland, California, that Meta's business model was to "hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public." "It worked especially well for kids," she ad

Meta Platforms META.O intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. A bipartisan group of 29 U.S. states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of […]

US states suing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram begin making their case in a California court in a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

Opening arguments are underway in a trial that pits four states against the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. They allege that Meta knew its products could hook kids — and lied about the danger.

Attorney Generals from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking billions of dollars in damages against Meta Platforms for how the company operates its social media sites.

The trial will address claims by US states that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to addict young children and teenagers and harmed their mental health.

The trial will address claims by US states that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to addict young children and teenagers and harmed their mental health.

The trial will address claims by US states that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to addict young children and teenagers and harmed their mental health.

Meta goes on trial over social media addiction as Facebook Instagram face changes

A trial to determine whether Meta purposely made its apps addictive to children is underway in California. That’s according to a report Tuesday (Aug. 18) from Reuters, which said the case marks the most significant test to date for social media platforms facing similar youth safety lawsuits. Meta is facing a group of attorneys general […] The post Meta Faces Reckoning As Social Media Addiction Trial Begins appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

A coalition of states suing Meta Platforms over claims Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harmed young users' mental health will begin making its case on Tuesday in California federal court in a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. Attorneys for Colorado, California, New Jersey and Kentucky, who are leading a bipartisan group of 29 states, will give their opening statements before an eight-person jury in Oakland that is serving expressly in an advisory capacity for U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will ultimately decide the case. The trial will test the four states’ allegations that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children and teens and misled consumers about the safety of the platforms for young users. It will also address the claims of all 29 states accusing Meta of improperly collecting and using children’s personal data while they used the company’s platforms in violation of federal law. Attorneys for Meta are expected to tell the jury that the company has made a huge effort to keep kids sa

Meta’s social media addiction trial could result in financial penalties and changes to the way it operates its flagship platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

A coalition of 29 states have begun their federal trial against Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, accusing the company behind Instagram and Facebook of knowingly building addictive products that harmed young users. The post Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Heads to Court with 29 States over Youth Social Media Addiction appeared first on Breitbart.

Meta Faces Unprecedented Legal Reckoning Over Youth Mental Health As Massive Multistate Trial Begins Meta Platforms is facing a critical juncture in its battle over youth online safety. Just weeks after suffering a massive legal defeat in New Mexico, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is now defending itself in a California federal court against a bipartisan coalition of 29 states. The states say Meta deliberately designed its platforms to addict children and harvested their data in violation of federal law. The California Showdown A sweeping multistate trial opens Tuesday in Oakland, California, overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Attorneys for Colorado, California, New Jersey and Kentucky - leading a bipartisan group of 29 states - will deliver opening statements. Those four states' claims about addictive design and deceptive marketing are what this trial tests, while all 29 states are involved over data-harvesting claims.  Interestingly - the eight-person jury hearing the case won't actually decide it. Rogers empaneled it in a purely advisory capacity, which is rare. The jurors will answer specific questions she selects, and she is free to disregard their findings entirely when she issues her ruling after the trial concludes in October, Reuters reports. The states argue that features like infinite scroll were purposely engineered to keep young users hooked, that Meta misled the public about the safety of its platforms for adolescents, and that the company improperly collected and monetized children's personal data in violation of federal law. The financial exposure is the largest of any case Meta has faced. The company has warned that maximum statutory penalties could theoretically reach $1.4 trillion, while the attorneys general have indicated they may seek around $200 billion. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found that 85 percent of Americans believe social media can be addictive for children. Beyond money, the coalition wants nationwide structural changes: age restrictions, deletion of algorithms and AI models built with children's data, elimination of infinite scroll and notifications, strict time limits for young users, and an algorithm retuned to prioritize well-being over engagement. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are both expected to testify, alongside former employees and outside experts. What Happened In New Mexico The multistate trial arrives on the heels of a devastating legal blow in New Mexico. On Aug. 6, State Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta had created a public nuisance and ordered the company to pay $567 million into a youth mental health fund, allocating $420 million to treatment, $90 million to screening and assessment, $33 million to prevention and awareness, and $15 million to referrals and care coordination over five years. The award followed a $375 million penalty a New Mexico jury imposed in March for violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act. The award fell well short of New Mexico's request. The state had sought $1 billion toward a $3.7 billion plan to expand children's mental health services. "The Court finds that the weight of the evidence presented demonstrates that Meta's platforms are a cause of and substantial contributing factor to the youth mental health crisis in New Mexico." Biedscheid compared the platforms to a polluting factory, writing that the harms "do not stay contained" but migrate "to the real world" and burden families, schools, hospitals and law enforcement. The order, a win for New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, also imposes five years of operational changes: monthly limits on teen use of Facebook and Instagram, restrictions on notifications, tighter controls on adult contact with minors, safeguards for AI chatbots, and enhanced review of child sexual abuse reports. Meta must file written progress reports twice a year. The template is now sitting in front of the 29-state coalition. Meta's Defense Meta plans to appeal the New Mexico ruling and maintains that the attorneys general in the California trial are chasing an "outlandish payout" without proof of actual harm. "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts," the company said after the New Mexico decision. The company argues it has invested heavily in creating a safe environment for teens, employing child safety experts and deploying technology to root out predators and harmful content. Company spokespeople have characterized the state lawsuits as an attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide problems, such as the complexities of age verification. The litigation traces back to 2021, when whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before the U.S. Senate and provided internal documents indicating Meta knew its platforms could harm young users but prioritized engagement over safety. Meta is not alone. Alongside Snap, TikTok parent ByteDance and YouTube parent Alphabet, it faces more than 3,000 federal lawsuits consolidated before Rogers and another 3,300 pending in Los Angeles state court. Eight states, including Tennessee and Arkansas, opted out of the federal case and filed in their own courts. Tennessee's trial is already underway. Meta has told investors that legal and regulatory blowback over youth safety "could significantly impact our business and financial results." Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 10:40

A landmark trial in California could force Meta to overhaul Facebook and Instagram after four states accused the company of designing its platforms to hook young users and hiding what it knew about the harm.

Today, opening statements will be heard in an Oakland, California, courtroom in a landmark trial that could determine whether Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook and Instagram, designed its social media platforms to addict younger users, despite the company being aware of the danger its social media platforms presented to mental health. If found guilty, Meta could be on the hook for more than a trillion dollars in financial penalties and also be forced to change how fundamental parts of Facebook and Instagram operate. Those existential threats appear to have investors concerned, as the company’s stock price (Nasdaq: META) is down this week. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happening? In October 2023, multiple states sued Meta, alleging that the company deliberately designed its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to be addictive and exploited younger users’ vulnerabilities to achieve compulsive use. Since the suit was brought, Meta has sought to have it dismissed and delayed—actions that all ultimately failed. Now, opening statements in the case against Meta will finally be heard today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Twenty-nine states are participants in the lawsuit against Meta, which is being led by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The other 25 states taking part in the lawsuit include Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. “Nearly three years ago, we took action because we believed Meta was putting profits ahead of the health and safety of our kids. Now we are ready to present the evidence and make our case,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement posted yesterday. Weiser continued, “Meta knew its platforms could harm young people, yet continued practices designed to keep them hooked — sacrificing sleep, being distracted in school, and even considering suicide — because more time online meant more money for Meta.” What are the allegations against Meta? According to the Colorado AG, there are numerous allegations against Meta in the landmark social media addiction trial, including that the company: “deliberately designed its platforms to exploit young users’ vulnerabilities, foster compulsive use, and maximize the time young people spend on Facebook and Instagram” “knew about harms to young users but deceived users, parents, and the public about the risks” “illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.” What has Meta said about the case? Ahead of the trial, Meta issued a brief statement on its website, stating: “The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate. 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.” Expect to hear much more from Meta in the trial’s opening statements today and beyond. The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks. During that time, Meta’s most powerful executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, are expected to take the stand. How bad could it be for Meta if the company loses? Very bad. First, there are the financial penalties. As noted by Yahoo News, those penalties could be as high as $1.4 trillion. To put that figure in perspective, Meta’s current market capitalization is around $1.5 trillion. If Meta lost and it was hit with the highest possible financial penalties, it could theoretically go bankrupt.  However, this outcome is very unlikely. In practice, any fine Meta would be liable for would likely be allowed to be paid over years if not decades. And the final fine, if Meta is found liable, could be much smaller: in the tens or hundreds of billions.  But perhaps more destructive to Meta than any fine would be the fact that, should the company lose, it may be legally required to change the way Facebook and Instagram operate. If any features are indeed found to be deliberately addictive-forming, a judge could order them scrapped. Features under scrutiny in the trial include likes, infinite scroll, and autoplay, according to Yahoo News. Eliminating these features could reduce engagement on Facebook and Instagram, ultimately lessening the time people spend on the platforms and, in turn, the advertising revenue Meta can generate from them. How has META stock performed? Recently, Meta’s stock price has taken a beating. Some of that is due to business factors, such as concerns about AI-related capital expenditures. But the potential consequences Meta could face to its bottom line and the fundamental way its apps like Facebook and Instagram operate are also weighing on investors’ minds.  Yesterday, just a day before opening statements are set to be heard, Meta’s stock price dropped more than 3.5% to $568.97. As of the time of this writing, META shares are down nearly 1% in premarket trading. But looking back farther, things are even worse for Meta. Since the year began, Meta has lost more than 13% of its value. And over the past 12 months, META shares are down more than 27%. That makes Meta the worst-performing Magnificent 7 stock over the past year. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, on which Meta trades, has seen growth of more than 25% during the same period.

Meta faces making major changes to how children use social media platforms should it lose a lawsuit brought by more than half of US states - the company denies allegations against it

Lawsuit is one of many accusing social media companies of designing platforms that harm young people

The trial's outcome could help reshape Facebook and Instagram, and leave Meta with billions of dollars to pay in penalties.

Facebook-parent Meta will defend itself in a landmark social media trial that begins today in California, where attorneys have argued over witnesses and financial penalties.

Meta is headed to federal court in California Tuesday to face a coalition of 29 state attorneys general over claims that the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to encourage compulsive use among young users. Balázs Penz reports on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)

The trial in Oakland marks a crucial moment as twenty-nine US states challenge Meta over accusations of crafting addictive platforms specifically targeting young users. Allegations suggest that Meta misrepresented the safety of its services for children. Key figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri are slated to take the stand. Meta's future hangs in the balance, facing possible fines and enforced changes to its platform structure.

A landmark Meta trial begins in California as states accuse the company of making Facebook and Instagram addictive for children. Lawyers spar over witnesse Read More: https://punchng.com/major-meta-trial-begins-as-lawyers-spar-over-witnesses-damages/

Four US states are taking Meta to court, accusing the social media giant of deliberately making Facebook and Instagram addictive for children. They're seeking damages and changes to the company's apps.

State attorneys general allege that tech company intentionally designed addictive products that harm young peopleMore than half of the states in the US have joined together in an unprecedented lawsuit against Meta that goes to trial on Tuesday, accusing the parent company of Instagram and Facebook of deliberately designing addictive products that lured in young people and caused them harm.The jury trial is taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, and is expected to last between six and eight weeks. The jury is expected to hear from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and employee turned whistleblower Arturo Béjar. Continue reading...

Facebook-parent Meta will defend itself in a landmark social media trial that begins Tuesday in California, where attorneys have sparred over witnesses and financial penalties.

A federal trial against Meta alleging the tech giant contributed to a mental health crisis in young people opens today.

Meta was accused of deliberately making Facebook and Instagram addictive for children, in violation of state and federal laws.

Meta has been hit with a major lawsuit regarding child safety and the addictive nature of its platform. Various states are demanding significant financial compensation and operational reforms, arguing that Meta intentionally crafted features to be addictive for young users. Additionally, they allege that the company collects data from children under the age of thirteen without obtaining proper consent.

Meta and Mark Zuckerberg are about to face their toughest trial yet. How the huge State AG's lawsuit could force Meta to make some difficult decisions.

Meta is heading to trial in a case brought by dozens of states accusing it of deliberately designing addictive features, misleading users about safety, and illegally collecting data from children under 13. Meta says the states are seeking penalties as high as $1.4 trillion, though the judge has already called that figure "unreasonable." The case could, however, influence thousands of similar lawsuits against the company. Engadget reports: The trial kicks off Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, after Meta lost a last-ditch attempt to get the case dismissed last week. It could see testimony from top officials at Meta, including Mark Zuckerberg, and could result in record-breaking penalties for the company. The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit brought against Meta from dozens of states, which accused Meta of intentionally creating addictive features and violating consumer protection laws. The action came after a multi-state investigation into the company's safety practices that officials said revealed serious harms to children and teens. During the trial, federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will hear claims from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated state consumer protection laws by intentionally misleading the public about the safety of its apps. Those four states and 25 others are also suing Meta over alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The states allege Meta broke the law because it knew Instagram and Facebook had users under the age of 13 and collected data about them without permission. [...] For Meta, the stakes are especially high because the company is currently facing thousands of other lawsuits that accuse it of harming users. Juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico have already ruled against Meta in high-profile trials that deal with similar issues. (Meta has said it will appeal in both cases.) Another loss could not only be a financial blow, it could give other lawsuits an easier path forward. And while Meta isn't exactly hurting for money, its legal costs are adding up. The company said it spent $2.4 billion on legal costs in the second quarter of 2026 alone. The jury in the case has already been selected and opening arguments are set to begin Tuesday, August 18. The trial is expected to last about six weeks. Unlike in a standard jury trial, the eight-member jury will serve in an "advisory" role, as Law360 explains. The judge will have full power over the final verdict and penalties. Along the way, the trial could also see testimony from some of Meta's most visible executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. Both men are likely to testify, according to Reuters. [...] Audio from the trial will be live streamed on the court's YouTube channel. A spokesperson for Meta issued the following statement: "The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate. 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," the spokesperson continued. "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." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Instagram parent claims it could face $1.4 trillion in damages – nearly the size of its entire market cap – based on how a coalition of state attorneys general argue that penalties should be calculated. The states say a more realistic figure if Meta loses the case would be a still-unprecedented $200 billion in...

Of the thousands of lawsuits Meta faces over child safety on its platforms, none may be more consequential than one going to trial this week in California.States are seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total as much as $1.4 trillion, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram.The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that get children addicted to its platforms. It also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains,” the lawsuit says.Dozens of states filed the lawsuit three years ago. The trial set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, features four of the states as plaintiffs — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. The other 25 states are expected to have trials later.Meta said it disputes the allegations, and the trial evidence will show its commitment to supporting young people. “We’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most,” the company said in a statement. States seek to land a major blow against Meta For Meta, which already lost two pivotal cases over harms to children and teens this year, the stakes are high. The company reported a rare profit decline last month, in part due to $2.4 billion in legal expenses.The $1.4 trillion figure, which Meta disclosed in a legal filing, is almost as high as the Menlo Park, California, company’s entire market capitalization — that is, the value of all its outstanding shares on the stock market. Paying it would inevitably put Meta Platforms in bankruptcy and perhaps put the company under state ownership.“The state attorneys general are going for the gusto,” said Eric Goldman, a professor and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law. “They are trying to set the definitive precedent in this case and they have asked for extraordinary damages and they are going to seek extraordinary structural remedies if they succeed.”Meta calls the possible penalty “untethered to any claimed violation” by the states.“A sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement,” Meta said in a July 6 filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.If Meta loses the trial, the court would have wide discretion over the size of any financial penalty, and legal experts say anything close to $1.4 trillion would be unlikely.“It’s not plausible in the sense that Meta doesn’t have that much money and could not get it,” said James Grimmelmann, a law professor at Cornell Law School and Cornell Tech. “An award that large would put Meta into bankruptcy, wipe out its owners, and effectively result in the states owning Meta.”As a practical matter, Grimmelmann added, “that seems extremely unlikely to happen.”In other cases that have involved high potential damages for multiple individual offenses, he said courts have stopped short of imposing the maximum penalties. One example is the Anthropic artificial intelligence training case, where plaintiffs were claiming damages of $150,000 per book that Anthropic copied, but the penalty ended up being $3,000 per book, totaling about $1.5 billion. Trial seeks to hold Meta accountable on state and federal statutes The federal trial this week is more complex than one earlier this year, in Los Angeles, where a state court awarded $6 million in damages from Meta and Google’s YouTube to a single plaintiff, a young woman who testified she became addicted to social media as a child.That case was a bellwether, or test case, picked from thousands of similar civil tort lawsuits to give both plaintiffs and the defendants an idea of how their arguments fare in court. The jury determined that Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design or operation of their respective platforms, and that the negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff. They also determined each company knew their platforms could be dangerous when used by a minor and that they failed to adequately warn of that danger.The Oakland case, meanwhile, has state attorneys general as the plaintiffs and centers on state and federal statutes they allege Meta violated, which lay out potential penalty amounts for each violation.“And there’s a lot of them because it’s four different states and at least three different kinds of statutes. There’s a child privacy statute, there’s a false advertising statute and there’s unfair competition statutes,” said Rebecca Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. Meta has added safety tools — but states want more An outcome that leads to changes in how Facebook and Instagram operate could be as consequential as any financial penalty.Meta has introduced a slew of new features in recent years designed to protect minors. In 2024 it launched teen accounts on Instagram, which are private by default and come with messaging and content restrictions, and parental controls. The company also uses artificial intelligence to determine if kids under 13 are using Instagram or if teenagers are lying about their age to access adult accounts.Safety advocates have called on the company to do more. A New Mexico judge earlier this month ordered new safety measures on the platforms including time limits for minors, AI chatbot restrictions, and mandatory warnings on the platforms, but his order applied only to users in the state.“These AGs have a real chance at fixing the product,” Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center said Friday in a virtual discussion with advocates hosted by the Tech Oversight Project. “For these companies, this is a real point of reckoning. As these cases go forward, this is a leap forward, folks, not a step.”During jury selection last week, prospective jurors were asked whether and how much they believe Meta has contributed to the youth mental health crisis. While many agreed that it did, they also put responsibility on parents, and said things like climate change and the state of the world are also causing children’s and teenagers’ mental health issues. AP Technology Writer Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this report. —Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer

Four states want penalties that approach Meta’s market value, but the lasting threat is a court-ordered overhaul of Facebook and Instagram for young users.

Meta will head to court on Tuesday for a potentially landmark child-safety trial that could have enormous financial and operational consequences for the tech giant -- with four states seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram. [Read More]

Four states are suing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the platforms were designed to hook kids and that Meta hid the mental health risks.

Meta faces a landmark federal trial brought by 29 states over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to addict young users and that the company improperly collected children’s data. Bloomberg News Tech Reporter Alexandra Levine joins Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar on Bloomberg This Weekend to explain that the case could expose Meta to substantial penalties and potentially more consequential court-ordered changes to how its platforms operate. (Source: Bloomberg)

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is headed to federal court to defend itself against claims brought by a coalition of 29 state attorneys general over youth social media addiction, calling the accusations that it misled users about app safety and harmed young people "unsubstantiated." The post Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Heads to Court to Face Youth Social Media Addiction Claims from 29 States appeared first on Breitbart.

Meta faces claims over children's data, platform design and safety, with Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri expected to testify in the trial.

Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant Meta is facing a $1.4 trillion lawsuit over allegations that it deliberately designed addictive features on its platforms to keep children hooked. Parents have long raised concerns about the impact of Facebook and Instagram on young people’s mental health, and jury selection begins this Wednesday.

It’s being described as social media’s “Big Tobacco moment”, with a major trial against Meta opening today. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is defending itself against allegations that it harmed children by designing addictive features for young users on Instagram and Facebook. France 24 journalist Delano D'Souza shares further insights.