Trial in Oakland
Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told an eight-person jury that Meta’s business model was to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public.”
The states’ case also alleges that Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using personal data of children while they used its platforms, with jurors expected to issue an advisory verdict and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to determine liability.
Meta’s defense is expected to argue that the company has made a huge effort to keep kids safe online, and that it did not make misleading statements about safety and the states failed to show residents were harmed.
The trial is scheduled to last six weeks, and Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri are expected to testify.
Competing narratives
Outside the courthouse as the trial began, Mary Rodee said her 15-year-old son Riley Basford was victimized by a predator on Facebook before he died by suicide in 2021, adding, “They call it spontaneous suicide.”
Rodee framed the case as a predictable outcome, saying, “I call it what it was, the predictable outcome of a system that protects corporations instead of children.”
Inside the courtroom, Meta rejected the states’ claims, with a Meta spokesperson saying the AGs “offer no proof anyone in their states was misled” and that the states are “decided to chase an outlandish payout.”
Reuters reported that Meta’s lawyer Paul Schmidt told the jury there was “no dispute” that some social media users face struggles, but said research showed no clear link between adolescents’ social media use and a lack of well-being.
The trial’s stakes are tied to potential remedies, with the states seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes, and with Meta saying penalties could be as high as $1.4 trillion.
What could change
The states also seek to force Meta to set time limits for younger users and enforce restrictions to keep children under 13 offline, while attorneys general said at a hearing last week the amount could be closer to $200 billion.
Meta has said penalties could be as high as $1.4 trillion, close to the Menlo Park, California-based company’s market value, and Reuters reported that jurors will hear claims by all 29 states about improper collection and use of children’s personal data.
The Guardian described the trial as part of a broader wave of litigation, noting that a Los Angeles jury earlier this year found Meta and YouTube liable for deliberately designing an addictive product and awarded $6m to a single young claimant.
NPR said the case is a bellwether in multidistrict litigation and quoted New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport saying, “They’re putting the profits … over the health of a generation of young people.”