Meta Faces Unified Trial Against California, Colorado, New Jersey Over Alleged Exploiting若
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The trial involves a coalition of 29 state attorneys general in a unified case against Meta that was brought in 2023, and will be argued by lawyers representing California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky. The stakes are enormous as leading government officials across the country push for Meta to be held accountable for allegedly violating federal and state laws, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and various consumer protection statutes.
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FortuneTrial 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.
BBC BusinessThe trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023 by 30 US states, including California and New York, in which they claim numerous violations of federal and state privacy laws for children.
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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.
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CNBC"Meta designed a dangerous product for young users, knew it to be dangerous, and then lied to children, families, and the community about how dangerous it was," he said. "We are ready to hold Meta accountable for its role in fueling the mental health crisis of American children and look forward to trial."
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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.
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BBC BusinessNot only are the states seeking upwards of $1 trillion, external from Meta, they are demanding it make changes to Instagram and Facebook, including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
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By allegedly targeting child users, Meta "chose to exploit" young people in order to hook them on its platforms, so it could grow its user base and expand its business. Today, Meta's value on the stock market is about $1.5tn.
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Fortune“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.
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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.
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BBC BusinessThe states suing Meta are asking for many more changes to the way Instagram and Facebook operate for young people, too.
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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.
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BBC BusinessThey want Meta to: implement a process of parental verification for teenage users change its "dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms" remove many image filters that change one's appearance in photos end autoplay of video content prohibit the creation of multiple accounts end disappearing or "ephemeral" posts, such as Instagram Stories
3 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 CNBC If New Mexico created the blueprint for taking on Meta, California could determine the company's fate when it comes to critical changes at Facebook and Instagram.
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02 Fortune 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.
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03 BBC Business The states are putting their claims to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a chief federal judge in California. She was the judge in the high-profile Elon Musk v Sam Altman trial and has built a reputation from the bench over the course of nearly 20 years for being incisive and direct.
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