Meta faces US child safety trial over alleged harm to young users

MUMBAI: Meta is about to find itself under a very different kind of scroll. The social media giant will face attorneys general from four US states in an Oakland, California, courtroom on Tuesday over allegations that its platforms contributed to harm to children’s mental health and violated child safety and consumer protection laws.

The trial, before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California, stems from a lawsuit filed by 29 states in 2023. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey will take part in the trial, which is expected to feature testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.

At the centre of the case are features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay and likes. The states allege Meta deliberately developed and refined these tools to keep young users engaged for longer, while knowing about links between its platforms and issues including anxiety, depression and suicide.

The lawsuit also alleges that Meta misled users about the safety of its products and violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing children under 13 to use its platforms and collecting their personal data without parental consent.

Meta has denied the allegations and is also challenging the scale of the potential financial exposure. The company has said damages sought by the states could reach $1.4 trillion, a figure approaching its roughly $1.5 trillion market capitalisation.

A Meta spokesperson described the states’ claims as “unsubstantiated” and argued that the financial demands were “vastly disproportionate”. The company maintains that the attorneys general have not demonstrated that users in their states were misled or harmed by the features cited in the case.

The trial adds to a growing legal storm around social media companies in the US. Meta and other platforms are facing thousands of lawsuits concerning alleged harms to users, particularly children and teenagers.

The company has already faced significant penalties in related cases. Earlier this month, a New Mexico district court ordered Meta to pay $567 million linked to teen mental health issues in the state, along with $375 million in civil penalties.

Separately, in March, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a case involving allegations that their platforms contributed to social media addiction, anxiety, depression, self-harm and body dysmorphia. The companies were ordered to pay $6 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

The Oakland case therefore puts not only Meta’s platform design under the microscope, but also the wider question of how far social media companies can be held responsible for the consequences of keeping young users online.