Social media giant Meta is on trial over claims it deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive to young people
The four US states in court are seeking billions of dollars from Meta - they're acting on behalf of a group of 29 states that filed a lawsuit in 2023 arguing the company violated child privacy laws
A whistleblower tells the court the number of teens exposed to graphic content was at least 100 times higher than Meta reported
A lawyer for California tells the court Meta's business model aims to "hook the users; hold them for as long as they can; harvest their data; (and) hide the truth from the public"
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, says it "strongly disagrees" with the allegations and evidence will show its "longstanding commitment to supporting young people"
The trial - taking place at a federal court in California - is expected to last six to eight weeks
Image source, ReutersLawyer Paul Schmidt, who is representing Meta, arrives before opening statements
Image source, ReutersCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the key figures leading the case, on his way into the court
Image source, ReutersJason Slothouber, prosecutor at the Colorado Attorney General's Office, arrives for the hearing
Image source, LightRocket via Getty ImagesSocial media algorithm: A ranking system that uses information like user behaviour and post engagement to decide which posts are suggested to users in their feed and who sees which kinds of content
Infinite scroll: As the user scrolls down the social media feed the page loads more content, to which there is no distinct end
Autoplay: A feature which allows media to automatically start playing without user interaction
'Like' count: The number of accounts that have performed a "liking" interaction on a post, e.g. by clicking the "thumbs-up" button on Facebook or double-tapping a post on Instagram
Instagram Stories: A type of disappearing or post which users upload, usually as pictures or videos. They are available for other users to watch for a limited period of time before disappearing
Image source, PA MediaThe US states who filed the lawsuit are not only seeking hundreds of billions of dollars from Meta, they are also demanding it makes substantial changes to Instagram and Facebook.
They claim the features are designed to keep users, mainly teenagers and children, on the platforms as often, and for as long as possible.
They want Meta to:
All of these features are central to the current user experience on Meta's platforms.
Meta has consistently denied deliberately making its platforms addictive for young people in order to grow its user base and expand its business.
Lily Jamali
North America technology correspondent, reporting from court
I’m in the courtroom of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, where Meta is about to go on trial. The room is packed with lawyers and journalists.
In some rows, people are squeezed shoulder to shoulder.
Among those here is Californian Attorney General Rob Bonta. His team will be spearheading this case alongside state prosecutors from Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky.
There is a sense of anxiety in the air - this trial has been years in the making, with states having first filed their joint lawsuit back in 2023.
Both sides appear eager to get started.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Getty ImagesThe view inside a Miami courtroom after a jury said the tobacco industry was liable for causing illnesses, including cancer
The attorney general of Kentucky, one of the states involved in the trial, has compared the lawsuit against Meta to the fight against tobacco companies in the 1990s.
That resulted in the four largest tobacco companies in the US settling dozens of state lawsuits that had been brought to recover billions of dollars in healthcare costs.
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was brought about in 1998 and aimed to reduce smoking among young people, including by restricting tobacco marketing and increasing the price of cigarettes.
And it worked - between 1998 and 2019, cigarette consumption in the US dropped by more than 50% while regular smoking by high schoolers dropped from 36.4% in 1997 to 6.0% in 2019, according to the National Association of Attorneys General.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman hopes the case against Meta will be equally successful.
"AGs are in the perfect position to get this done. We did it with the Tobacco Settlement in the 1990s... We'll do it again with Meta," he said.
Young adults in Washington DC have previously shared their views with the BBC on whether social media is addictive and how it impacts their daily lives.
Their reactions came after a Los Angeles jury found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harm young people's mental health.
Is social media addictive? Young adults talk about social media use.
Image source, Getty ImagesCampaigners welcomed Meta and YouTube's defeat in the landmark case
In March, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and Google deliberately built addictive social media platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health.
The 20-year-old woman, known as Kaley, sued Meta (owner of Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook) and Google (owner of YouTube) over her childhood addiction to social media.
She was awarded $6m (£4.5m). Speaking at the time of the verdict, both Meta and Google said they disagreed with the verdict and intended to appeal.
Meta said teen mental health is "profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app", while Google said the case misunderstood YouTube as a "responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site".
Image source, Getty ImagesMark Zuckerberg leaving court in February after defending Meta in a separate trial in Los Angeles
In addition to today's trial, Meta is currently facing thousands of lawsuits from authorities and families in the US over child safety issues.
Earlier this month, a US judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay another $567m (£421m) for its failure to warn the public about dangers its platforms posed to children.
The figure was in addition to $375m (£277m) in fines Meta was already ordered to pay in the case.
It marked the largest fine against the company over child safety.
At the time, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the social media giant is a "public nuisance" akin to air pollution, saying it must put the money in a fund aimed at reducing future harms.
A spokesman for Meta said at the time: "We disagree with the ruling and will appeal."
In March, Meta also lost a landmark case in Los Angeles that found it could be held liable for building addictive platforms.
Liv McMahon
Technology reporter
Meta has consistently denied allegations that it has failed teens, including claims in this case that it deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive and breached child privacy laws.
"We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people," a company spokeswoman said in a statement.
It has often cited numerous measures to protect young people, such as parental controls, safety features and making teen accounts private by default.
But this hasn’t stopped a groundswell of legal action in the US.
Image source, Getty ImagesA group of 29 US states are claiming numerous violations by Meta of federal and state laws designed to protect children.
That includes breaches of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) - intended to protect children under 13 years old from being targeted by businesses operating online.
The states allege Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children and teens, with features on the apps (such as video autoplay and Instagram Stories) made to keep them on there for as long as possible.
They claim Meta makes it difficult for young people to use the platform less - through functions like frequent notifications intended to get young people back on the apps.
The states allege the company has misled consumers about the safety of the platforms for young users.
Meta is also accused of improperly collecting and using children’s personal data while they used the company’s platforms.
Meta has consistently denied such claims. We elaborate on its response in the next post.
Liv McMahon
Technology reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Facebook employee Frances Haughen has testified in front of US Congress about the company's safety practices
The trial that begins today stems from a lawsuit filed against Meta by a coalition of US states in October 2023.
In that lawsuit, a group of attorneys general claimed the company had used addictive features to "ensnare" users, while also concealing the dangers of its platforms.
At the time, Meta was facing scrutiny after former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen testified in front of Congress that the company was aware that its products, particularly Instagram, were harming young people.
Haugen’s claims prompted an investigation by several state prosecutors, later forming the basis for the current multi-state lawsuit against Meta.
The social media giant has consistently and strongly denied allegations it failed to protect teens. But its efforts to dismiss this suit, or at least diffuse it into smaller trials, has largely failed.
Now, four of the 29 states suing the company - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - will present their case.
Image source, Getty ImagesMeta will go on trial today over claims it violated a series of federal and state privacy laws for children.
The Instagram and Facebook owner is accused of designing its platforms to be addictive to young people and violating child privacy laws.
Four states are due in court today seeking billions of dollars from Meta - it follows a lawsuit filed by 29 states in 2023 arguing the company violated child privacy laws.
The states are also demanding it makes changes to Instagram and Facebook, including changes to "like" counts and the infinite-scroll function.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has described the case as "the largest consumer protection lawsuit in American history".
A Meta spokesperson said the company "strongly" disagrees with the allegations, insisting it has a "longstanding commitment to supporting young people".
Stick with us ahead of the trial getting under way in Oakland, California.