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🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Meta faces trial in 29 states over child addiction, data claims

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Twenty-nine U.S. states have launched a lawsuit against Meta, alleging the company designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive and illegally collected children's data.
  • The trial, which began in California, will examine claims of illegal data collection and deceptive practices that allegedly led to youth addiction.
  • Meta denies the allegations, arguing no clear link exists between social media use and declining mental health, and claims its CEO is committed to improving services.

A major legal battle has begun in California as 29 U.S. states sue Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The states accuse Meta of designing its platforms to be addictive, illegally collecting children's data, and misleading the public about platform safety. This trial, which started in Oakland, is considered one of Meta's most sensitive legal challenges, with potential to alter how these platforms operate.

The business model is to addict users, keep them hooked as long as possible, collect data, and hide the truth from the public.

— California state governmentDuring the trial opening statements, the state government outlined its accusations against Meta's business practices.

The states' case centers on Meta's business model, which they argue is designed to "addict users, keep them hooked as long as possible, collect data, and hide the truth from the public." They claim Meta researched how children's brains work and respond to online stimuli, deliberately leading them into addiction. The states pointed to an internal Meta research report titled 'The best target is the child,' suggesting the company knew children are more susceptible to addiction due to less developed impulse control.

The best target is the child.

— Internal Meta research reportThe states cited this internal report to argue Meta knew children were particularly vulnerable to addiction.

Prosecutors cited internal emails where Instagram executives allegedly discussed "teen app time" as a target and some employees compared themselves to "drug dealers." They are demanding changes to social media app designs, citing features like infinite scrolling and auto-playing videos as "addictive design." Meta, however, counters that no clear link has been established between social media use and declining mental health. The company's lawyers emphasized that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is committed to improving services and has no intention of making them dangerous.

teen app time

— Instagram executivesProsecutors referenced internal emails where executives allegedly discussed 'teen app time' as a target, suggesting a focus on engaging young users.

Potential penalties are substantial, with Meta estimating civil fines could reach $1.4 trillion, close to its market capitalization. The states, however, project the fines to be around $200 billion. This lawsuit follows other legal actions against Meta, including a recent Los Angeles jury verdict ordering Meta and Google to pay $6 million to a young woman who claimed addiction to Instagram and YouTube. A New Mexico court also ordered Meta to pay $567 million for harms to youth mental health.

drug dealers

— Meta employeesSome Meta employees allegedly compared themselves to 'drug dealers' in internal communications, according to state prosecutors.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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