Meta Faces Lawsuit Accusing of Contributing to Youth Mental Health Crisis
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The 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.
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FortuneThe lawsuit accuses Meta of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hides 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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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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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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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.
FortuneThe states called as their first witness former Meta executive Arturo Béjar, who worked as an engineering director 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.
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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.
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The AGs of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey also allege that Meta misled the public about safety risks associated with its apps.
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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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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.
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.
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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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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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FortuneBéjar said that, contrary to Meta’s statements, the company’s research on safety issues was not being used to improve products.
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 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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02 MarketWatch Brett Arends's ROI Opinion: Meta is facing its ‘Big Tobacco’ moment — and investors can profit
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03 New York Post Business “You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids,” Béjar said on the witness stand.
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04 Fortune A jury will decide whether the states’ attorneys general have made their case that the tech giant designed its apps to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data and hide the truth from the public,” as Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, put it in her opening statement.
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05 Washington Times Business “You’re going to hear that Meta knew a lot about kids’ brains,” O’Neill said. This includes how they are constantly seeking rewards, how they are sensitive to social feedback and “how they are still developing their ability to control impulses the way adults do.”
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