Meta faces a historic trial for Facebook and Instagram's harm to young people and children

Barcelona / WashingtonThe consequences of the social media business model may be catching up with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The giant led by Mark Zuckerberg faces the first session of a trial this Tuesday that could place limits on what part of the US administration considers digital excesses. 29 US states, led by Colorado, California, New Jersey, and Kentucky, accuse the multinational of having introduced features and dynamics on its main platforms that generate addiction among children and adolescents.

The trial began this Tuesday in Oakland, California, and represents one of the biggest legal challenges in the history of the digital economy. The proceedings are expected to last between six and eight weeks and will feature testimony from several of Meta's visible faces, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Instagram director Adam Mosseri.

The prosecutors from the four states representing the plaintiffs' group will have to demonstrate that Facebook and Instagram's architecture is not safe for young people and children, even though the company claims it is. They will also argue that Meta has violated the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), as it allegedly collected personal data from its users under the age of 13, contrary to the regulations' stipulations.

The main thrust of the case is to point out that social media has harmed children with addictive products, drawing in part on the playbook legal that was used against major tobacco companies in the 1990s.

The lawsuit against Meta also recalls that the company has previously tried to stop attempts to scrutinize its business activities. In 2024, the Californian legal office notes, the multinational tried to have the state's federal court dismiss the coalition of states' complaint; an attempt that came to nothing. Just two months ago, in June, the tech giant attempted to obtain summary judgment for the case and was met with a complete refusal from Californian justice.

California's Deputy Attorney General, Megan O'Neill, was tasked with opening today's session with a stern address in which she accused Meta of using children to boost its profits, despite being aware of the harm it was causing to the mental health of its youngest users. O'Neill defined Instagram and Facebook's business model "with four verbs: hook the user, retain them for as long as possible, collect their data, and then, hide the truth".

The prosecutor reminded the eight jury members that Meta already had an internal investigation in hand that showed how frequently children have "negative, even traumatic, experiences on the platform". In 2022, a scandal erupted in the U.S. when it became known that Facebook was aware that it was encouraging girls to suffer from eating disorders and that the algorithm was recommending accounts that promoted anorexia and an obsession with being thin.

Other internal memos that came to light also showed that Facebook employees had been concerned following an internal investigation that revealed Instagram made one in three teenagers feel worse about their bodies, and that young girls who used the app had a higher rate of anxiety and depression.

In its response, the company's defense has argued that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate any real harm caused by Facebook and Instagram. Furthermore, it has also invoked the fact that its platforms are protected by the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and by section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, according to the interpretation of which social networks are not responsible for the content published by their users.

Meta's defense

If the four plaintiff states win, they will seek nearly $200 billion in damages for consumer protection violations, according to documents filed by prosecutors in court. The figure would represent nearly 14% of the company's total stock value on the stock market, which was around $1.45 trillion on Monday, according to the same document.

"A penalty of this magnitude has no parallel in the history of consumer protection," Meta argued in the documentation filed with the court and reported by Reuters. In fact, in a statement to counter the accusations, the company accused the attorneys general of "seeking an outlandish payment instead of relying on law and facts." In the same note, the firm dismisses the grounds for the complaints and argues that they "misrepresent the company and the work it does to offer young people safe and valuable online experiences."

The company has been highly critical of the scope of the demands and the potential penalty, directly pointing to the states' legal representatives. "Attorneys general may call this case historic, but their arguments are limited and unsubstantiated, and their financial demands are widely disproportionate," they stated in their public response. Contrary to the prosecution's arguments, they insist that the lawyers "offer no evidence that anyone in their states has been deceived." "They are trying to penalize Meta for challenges that the entire industry faces, such as age verification," they add.

In any case, the trial will culminate an investigation that has taken years and efforts by various U.S. administrations. The push to regulate social media platforms' activity gained significant momentum in 2021, when former Facebook employee Frances Haugen made a written statement to the U.S. Senate accusing the multinational of "putting its immense profits ahead of people." "As long as Facebook continues to operate in the shadows, it is accountable to no one, and will continue to make decisions that harm the common good," Haugen went on to say.

State prosecutors, following those statements, began an investigation that lasted for years, and in 2023 they filed a lawsuit that they place on the same level as the historic rulings that managed to regulate tobacco, for example. "We acted with the tobacco agreements in the 90s. We acted against the companies that caused the opioid crisis. And we will act again with Meta," assured Kentucky's Attorney General, Russell Coleman, in his joint statement.