Federal trial against Meta over child safety begins in California
Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, in the lawsuit against Meta, which is jointly led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 29 state attorneys general. The company is accused of allowing its Facebook and Instagram services to allegedly contribute to the development of addiction among teenagers and children.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, consolidated the states’ claims regarding possible violations of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and state consumer protection laws. During the proceedings, attorneys from California, Colorado, New Jersey, and Kentucky will represent the coalition, according to CNBC.
Prosecutors are seeking a permanent nationwide injunction, rather than one limited to individual states. If the court finds a violation of COPPA, they want to compel Meta to delete the personal data of users under the age of 13, as well as the algorithms and models trained on such data. In its state-level legal claims, the coalition is also asking Meta to remove certain features it considers addictive: infinite scrolling, autoplay, ephemeral content, beauty filters, and algorithms optimized to keep users engaged.
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Bonta stated that Meta allegedly created a dangerous product for young users, was aware of the risks, and misled children, families, and communities about the level of danger. Meta rejected these claims, calling the coalition’s demands unfounded and the financial claims disproportionate. The company stated that prosecutors have not provided evidence that residents of their states were misled and are attempting to punish Meta for problems common to the entire industry, specifically user age verification.
Meta’s attorneys previously stated that potential damages in the consolidated case could reach $1.4 trillion. State representatives told Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers last week that a more likely figure is around $200 billion.
Earlier this month, Meta lost a separate case in New Mexico. The court ordered the company to contribute $567 million to a harm-remediation fund as part of the second phase of the case, which involved allegations of child sexual exploitation. During the first phase in March, the jury ruled that Meta must pay $375 million for violating the state’s unfair trade practices law. Meta has stated that it disagrees with the ruling and intends to appeal it.
