Meta Faces Legal Battle Over Alleged Contribution 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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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.
CNBCDuring her opening statements on Tuesday, California's deputy attorney general, Megan O'Neill, said that Meta is choosing profit over safety, hiding the "reality" of under-13s on its platforms, and that its business model is to "hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public."
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
New York Post BusinessThe state AGs also want a court order forcing Meta to delete any illegally harvested data from kids under age 13 and to stop using algorithms trained on that data. They’re also seeking to bar Meta from using “certain addictive design features” including infinite scroll and autoplay features.
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Age verification has been criticized for not going far enough Despite Meta’s statements that it works to find kids under 13 on its platforms and ban them, Béjar testified that he found “tens of thousands” of kids under 13 on Instagram through his research. He said it was “common knowledge” at the company that such young children were on Instagram.
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Washington Times BusinessAge verification has been criticized for not going far enough Despite Meta’s statements that it works to find kids under 13 on its platforms and ban them, Béjar testified that he found “tens of thousands” of kids under 13 on Instagram through his research. He said it was “common knowledge” at the company that such young children were on Instagram.
BBC BusinessA lawyer for California claimed Meta found "millions" of 11 and 12-year-olds were on Instagram and "it did little to keep them off".
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The state AGs are seeking to force Meta to change key features of its apps and to impose major penalties on Meta over its alleged misdeeds. Lawyers for the states said the damages could approach $200 billion, while Meta has alleged the actual number could reach an astronomical $1.4 trillion.
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Washington Times BusinessThe trial that began Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, pits Meta against the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey and is expected to last about six weeks. The four states were among 29 that sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy - the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts, including one underway in Tennessee.
FortuneThe trial that began Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, pits Meta against the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey and is expected to last about six weeks. The four states were among 29 that sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts, including one underway in Tennessee.
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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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Washington Times BusinessPlaintiffs’ 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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Attorney Paul Schmidt arrives before opening statements as Meta faces a landmark trial in federal court on Tuesday, in Oakland. (Manuel Orbegozo) REUTERS Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify during the trial. AFP via Getty Images
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BBC BusinessThe trial started off on Tuesday with a battle of words and facts. Paul Schmidt, a lead attorney for Meta in the trial, directly addressed an internal research report that Megan O'Neill, a lead attorney for California, made part of the states' opening arguments.
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The researcher added that Meta had the capability to detect underage users who were evading safeguards but had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to protect its bottom line.
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BBC BusinessAs for Meta being able to verify the age of every user on its platform, Schmidt argued that the very privacy laws Meta was being accused of violating in the case prevent it from saving and using the data it would need to effectively track underage users.
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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 CNBC Meta says it faces a trillion-dollar penalty and damage to its advertising model. But the trial could go well beyond one company. It could make social media unrecognizable.
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02 Fortune Two US senators have sent a letter to TikTok executives demanding answers about an experiment the company ran that withheld a safety feature from millions of users, including a teenager who died by suicide. The senators, co-sponsors of an online child safety bill, called TikTok’s decision to conduct the test “depraved.”
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03 Washington Times Business 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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04 BBC Business Published A court has heard claims Meta intentionally hooked a generation of children on Facebook and Instagram, as the biggest legal challenge the social media platform has faced began on Tuesday.
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05 New York Post Business Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have purchased a massive 19th-century, Gothic-style castle in Ireland, the billionaire’s spokesman confirmed Thursday.
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