Meta lawsuits: Is social media facing a global legal reckoning?

Opening statements begin on Tuesday in a major, multistate jury trial in the United States against Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and which is facing a host of regulatory and legal actions in Europe and beyond.The US trial opening in the state of California, which could reportedly cost Meta $1.4 trillion in damages, alleges that the social media giant designed addictive social media platforms that are harming the mental health of young people and could significantly change the way these platforms operate if successful, experts say.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The Global South’s digital future must not belong to Bezos and Musklist 2 of 3New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harm to youthslist 3 of 3US appeals court says social media addiction lawsuits can proceedend of listUS state attorneys general who are bringing the case also say they are concerned about how data on younger users is collected without consent from their guardians.The case highlights several specific features of these platforms which, according to the attorneys general, specifically harm younger children, such as continuous scrolling and algorithm prompts.With regulatory action ...