Meta faces landmark California trial: ‘Kids are the product’

Opening statements started Tuesday in a pivotal trial for Meta Platforms in a California federal court, where states are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children. Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking a financial penalty that could, in theory, total as much as US$1.4 trillion plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram.Twenty-nine states sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts.The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms. It also argues that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law. Story continues below advertisement Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice, laid out the states’ case for jurors during opening statements in federal court in Oakland, California.“You’re going to hear that Meta knew a lot about kids’ brains,” O’Neill said. This in...