Meta is back in the courtroom to face its biggest social media addiction trial yet

By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — Opening arguments kicked off Tuesday in what could be Meta’s most consequential legal fight yet over youth safety and addiction. If Meta loses the case, it could fundamentally change how the company’s social media platforms operate.

The case was brought in 2023 by a group of 29 state attorneys general who allege that Meta intentionally designed its platforms to get young people addicted, boosting its business and harming mental health of children and teens in their states. They also claim that Meta misled the public about the risks of its platforms, and that it collected children’s data in violation of the federal Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The trial that began this week in federal court in Oakland will hear arguments from lawyers for four of those states: California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. Meta denies the allegations.

Meta faces thousands of lawsuits claiming that it has addicted and harmed young people — as do Snap, TikTok and YouTube — and has already lost two such cases, putting it on the hook for just shy of $1 billion in damages. But the damages in Tuesday’s case could be orders of magnitude higher: the four states collectively seek as much as $1.4 trillion in damages.

That proposed financial penalty is nearly as much as Meta’s total valuation on Wall Street. Even if the court awards smaller damages, the states also seek an order to change how Meta’s platforms operate.

“Meta designed a dangerous product for young users, knew it to be dangerous, and then lied to children, families, and the community about how dangerous it was,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement last week. “We are ready to hold Meta accountable for its role in fueling the mental health crisis of American children and look forward to trial.”

Meta has called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and the massive proposed financial penalty “vastly disproportionate” to the claims.

“The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement Monday. “Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout.”

Opening Arguments

In their opening statements, lawyers for the states will outline their claims that Meta’s ad-based business model relies on maximizing the amount of time young people spend on its platforms.

They claim that Meta designed features such as recommendation algorithms, infinitely scrolling feeds, “likes” and notifications to be intentionally addictive, according to the complaint.

The states also allege that Meta has lied to the public about its knowledge of the risks of its platforms, including in public statements in which the company and its executives have said they don’t believe they harm children. And they claim Meta is aware that it has collected personal data from users under 13 without parental consent, in violation of COPPA.

Lawyers for Meta, meanwhile, are set to argue that the states’ case misrepresents its platforms and policies and that they’ve failed to prove any real-world harm from Meta’s platforms. The company also claims protection under Section 230, which says online platforms can’t be held accountable for third-party content, and the First Amendment.

Meta argues that the states’ COPPA claim would require evidence that the company is aware of a large number of under-13-year-olds it failed to remove from its platforms, and it says that all social media companies struggle with identifying underage users.

The trial is expected to last for at least six weeks and could see testimony from top Meta executives, former Meta employees-turned-whistleblowers and researchers who study the impact of social media on young people’s mental health.

The eight-person jury will serve an advisory function — ultimately, District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will consider the jury’s decision and rule on the verdict and potential damages.

Big Tech’s ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment

The trial could add to a year of accountability for the tech giant following its earlier court losses. The wave of litigation against Meta and other social media companies from individuals, school districts and states has been called Big Tech’s Big Tobacco moment.

A New Mexico jury in March found Meta liable for violating the state’s consumer protection laws and failing to protect children from sexual predators; the company was ordered to pay a total of $942 million in damages and make changes such as limiting push notifications. A Los Angeles jury also ordered Meta and YouTube to pay a total of $6 million in damages for intentionally getting a young woman addicted and harming her mental health. Meta said it will appeal both cases.

In May, Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap agreed to settle the first of a wave of social media addiction lawsuits brought by school districts, ahead of an expected trial with a Kentucky district. The terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

And trial is currently underway in another case brought by Tennessee’s attorney general alleging that Meta knowingly harmed young people’s mental health.

A Florida teen dropped his case against Meta accusing it of addictive and harmful features in July, after he reached settlements with TikTok, YouTube and Snap.

Meta, along with the other social media giants, has repeatedly argued that there is no such thing as social media addiction and that it has invested heavily in features to protect young people on its platforms. It has pointed, for example, to parental control tools, default privacy protections for teens and reminders to take breaks. Critics claim those measures are ineffective or insufficient to protect young people online.

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