Federal Trial Begins Against Meta Over Safety Concerns in California
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Now, a federal trial underway in Oakland, Calif., is testing what it would actually take to financially hurt a company that big. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey have accused Meta of misleading the public about the risks its platforms pose to young users and of designing features on Instagram and Facebook that keep children and teenagers hooked. The four states are going first in a case brought by a coalition of 29 state attorneys general that sued the company in 2023.
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Washington Times BusinessThe lawsuit accuses Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hide these harms from the public. It also argues that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.
New York Post BusinessMeta is defending against a coalition of 29 state attorneys general who claim that Meta illegally collected and used kids’ data in a case first brought in 2023. The states further allege that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for teens through features such as the “like” button and recommendation algorithms, which caused a wave of anxiety, depression, self-harm and even suicide.
BBC BusinessAfter the state lawyer said Meta knew its platforms hurt teen mental health, Meta's side said it was being ignored how many more teens had good experiences
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During his second day of testimony, Arturo Béjar said Meta consistently prioritized profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to their mental well-being.
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FortuneDuring his second day of testimony, Arturo Béjar said Meta consistently prioritized profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to their mental well-being.
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Plaintiffs’ witness says safety was an ‘afterthought’ Béjar worked at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, attracting wide attention for his work to combat cyberbullying. He returned from 2019 to 2021 as a contractor to work on safety issues. He testified before Congress in 2023 about social media and the teen mental health crisis, saying that Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, knew about harms Instagram was causing but chose not to make meaningful changes to address them.
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FortunePlaintiffs’ witness says safety was an ‘afterthought’ Béjar worked at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, attracting wide attention for his work to combat cyberbullying. He returned from 2019 to 2021 as a contractor to work on safety issues. He testified before Congress in 2023 about social media and the teen mental health crisis, saying that Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, knew about harms Instagram was causing but chose not to make meaningful changes to address them.
New York Post BusinessBéjar, who led a safety-focused team at Meta from 2009 to 2015 and later returned as a consultant from 2019 to 2021, accused Zuckerberg of lying about the company’s commitment to protecting kids in public statements.
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Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, laid out the states’ case for jurors during opening statements in federal court in Oakland, California.
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New York Post BusinessWith Post wires Megan O'Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, makes opening statements before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in this courtroom sketch on Tuesday in Oakland. REUTERS
FortuneO’Neill laid out the states’ case for the eight jurors during opening statements in federal court in Oakland, California.
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While a jury will hear arguments and render an advisory verdict in the case, it will be up to District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to make a final decision on specific damages and potential changes to how Meta does business.
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Washington Times BusinessU.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland is overseeing the proceedings, which are expected to last six weeks with testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives and former employees. Gonzalez Rogers, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, has overseen a bevy of complex, high-profile cases involving Big Tech. These include Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders as well as Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple over its app store.
FortuneU.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland is overseeing the proceedings, which are expected to last six weeks with testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives and former employees. Gonzalez Rogers, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, has overseen a bevy of complex, high-profile cases involving Big Tech. These include Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders as well as Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple over its app store.
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“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 in a statement.
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FortuneMeta argues the states have not shown anyone in their states was misled or harmed by the features at issue, and that the AGs are attempting to penalize the company for what it calls “industry-wide challenges like age verification,” Otway said.
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Meta's business model could be summed up this way: "Hook the users; hold them for as long as they can; harvest their data; hide the truth from the public when making public statements," she said.
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New York Post BusinessMeta’s business model comes down to four simple “H” words, Megan O’Neill of the California AG’s office said in her opening statement, according to Bloomberg: “Hook the user, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth.”
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The trial is expected to last roughly six weeks, with Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri each expected to be called to the witness stand.
5 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Washington Times Business Meta says users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, in line with the law, called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
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02 Fortune Meta says users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, in line with the law, called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
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03 New York Post Business “Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout,” the spokesperson added. “We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court.”
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04 Bloomberg Meta’s Trial Adds a Trillion-Dollar Risk to Its Struggling Stock Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. have been under pressure all year due to questions about its spending on artificial intelligence. But a trial accusing its social media platforms of targeting children goes beyond that, raising existential questions about the future of its core business.
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05 BBC Business A jury in Oakland, California will spend the next six weeks wading through claims by top attorneys from several US states, and lawyers for the social media company, that at turns rebutted the other as the trial opened.
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