Meta hooked children and misled public: prosecutors

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 worldwide, is the sole defendant in this 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 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.

For Meta, “the huge issue here is reputational harm” and being forced to make major changes to its social media platforms, Vincent Joralemon, a director at Berkeley’s Life Sciences Law and Policy Center, told AFP.