Meta accused of targeting children to boost Facebook and Instagram use, as US trial begins

Meta Platforms intentionally sought to ⁠addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

A bipartisan group of 29 US states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business.

Four lead states – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, fuelling anxiety, depression and even suicide, and misleading consumers about ‌the platforms’ safety.

Jurors will hear claims by all 29 states that Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using personal data of children while they used its platforms.

Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told the eight-person jury in Oakland, California, that Meta’s business model was to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public”.

“It worked especially well for kids,” she added. “Meta needed kids, and it needed to reassure the people who cared about those kids that the kids are safe.”