California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are part of a coalition of 29 states suing the company for allegedly designing features to keep kids on Facebook and Instagram and deceiving parents about the safety of their platforms.
“Meta hooked kids on its platforms by taking advantage of how their brains work,” Megan O’Neill, deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice, said in opening arguments Tuesday.
“Meta held onto those kids because it needed them to make money in the long [run],” she continued. “Meta harvested kids’ data, tracked their behavior, sent them ads to keep them hooked. And Meta hid the truth to keep the cycle going.”
The social media company argues the states’ allegations are unsubstantiated and an attempt to penalize the firm for issues that have plagued the whole industry, such as age verification.
“It’s a challenge across the entire industry,” Paul Schmidt, a lawyer representing Meta, said Tuesday.
He urged the jury to “keep an open mind and wait for the full evidence” as both sides make their case.
The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, marks the latest in a series of legal challenges against Meta and other social media giants over their handling of kids’ online safety.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
