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

BarcelonaThe consequences of the social media business model may be arriving for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The giant led by Mark Zuckerberg faces this Tuesday the first session of a trial that could set limits on what part of the North American administration considers digital excesses. 29 US states, led by Colorado, California, New Jersey, and Kentucky, accuse the multinational of having introduced functions and dynamics in its main platforms that generate addiction among children and adolescents.

The trial, which will be held in Oakland, Northern California, represents one of the biggest legal challenges in the history of the digital economy. The proceedings are expected to last multiple weeks, and will feature testimony from several of Meta's visible faces, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg; or Instagram director Adam Mosseri.

The prosecutors of the four states representing the plaintiffs' group will therefore 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 has allegedly collected personal data from its users under 13 years of age, against the stipulations of the regulation.

According to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, "Meta designed a dangerous product for young users, knew it was dangerous, and lied to children, families, and the community about its dangers." In a joint statement with the other prosecutors leading the lawsuit published Monday, Bonta's stated goal is to "hold Meta accountable." In a similar vein, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport accuses the multinational of having "endangered the mental health of an entire generation, with addictive features that they knew would have terrible effects."

In the joint statement, the legal representatives of the four states recall that Meta has attempted to stop attempts to scrutinize its business activity on other occasions. In 2024, notes the Californian legal office, the multinational tried to get the federal court of the state to reject the coalition of states' complaint; an attempt that came to nothing. Just two months ago, last June, the tech giant tried to obtain summary judgment for the case, and received a total denial from the Californian justice system.

Meta's defense

The plaintiffs have not made public the figure they seek to obtain in terms of sanctions on the company, although they explained in June that the number of law violations identified in Meta's structure should be multiplied – a figure that would be gigantic, as it would correspond to all minors using Facebook and Instagram – by the amount of fines established in state law. According to the company, the penalty that would arise from this calculation would amount to over $1.4 trillion, an amount that practically coincides with the multinational's stock market capitalization.

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

The corporation has been highly critical of the scope of the demands and the possible penalty, directly pointing to the legal representatives of the states. "The attorneys general may define this as a historic case, but their arguments are limited and unsubstantiated, and their financial demands are broadly disproportionate," they stated in their public response. Against the prosecution's arguments, they insist that the lawyers "offer no proof 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 American administrations. The push to regulate social platforms' activity accelerated significantly in 2021, when former Facebook employee Frances Haugen appeared before the US Senate to accuse the multinational of "putting its immense profits ahead of people." "As long as Facebook continues to operate in the shadows, it answers to no one, and will continue to make decisions that harm the common good," Haugen even stated.

State prosecutors, following those statements, began an investigation that lasted for years, and filed a lawsuit in 2023 that places it 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. We will do it again with Meta," Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman was quoted as saying in his joint statement.