Meta Faces Trial Over Alleged Child Safety Failures, Social Media

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has gone on trial in the United States over allegations that it deliberately designed its platforms to keep children and teenagers engaged while concealing potential risks associated with social media use.

Key Highlights

• Meta is facing a major US trial over alleged child safety failures on Facebook and Instagram.
• A coalition of 29 states is seeking billions of dollars in damages and changes to Meta’s platforms.
• States accuse Meta of using features such as autoplay, infinite scrolling and notifications to keep young users engaged.
• The company is accused of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
• Meta denies the allegations and says it has introduced measures to protect teenagers online.
• The states are seeking stronger parental verification and changes to recommendation algorithms and other platform features.

The trial began on Tuesday before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers at a federal court in Oakland, California.

California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are leading the case on behalf of a coalition of 29 states that sued Meta in 2023.

The states are seeking billions of dollars in damages and want the technology company to make significant changes to the way Facebook and Instagram operate.

States Accuse Meta of Targeting Young Users

Opening the case for California, Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill accused Meta of operating a business model designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible while collecting their data and concealing information about potential risks to children.

O’Neill told the court that Facebook and Instagram were designed to encourage children to repeatedly return to the platforms despite Meta allegedly being aware of potential harm associated with their use.

She also alleged that Meta was aware of research examining the effects of social media on young people’s mental health but restricted access to some of its internal findings and prevented further studies that could expose potential risks.

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The states claim Meta used features including autoplay, infinite scrolling, frequent notifications and disappearing posts to encourage young users to spend more time on its platforms.

 Meta Accused of Violating Child Privacy Law

The coalition also accuses Meta of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which regulates the collection and use of personal information belonging to children under 13 by online businesses.

The states are seeking several changes to Facebook and Instagram, including stronger parental verification for teenage users and modifications to recommendation algorithms.

They are also seeking restrictions on image-altering filters, an end to autoplay, limits on multiple accounts and the removal of disappearing posts such as Instagram Stories.

Meta Rejects Allegations

Meta has strongly rejected the allegations and maintained that it has a longstanding commitment to protecting young people who use its platforms.

The company has pointed to measures including parental controls, safety features and private-by-default accounts for teenagers.

Meta has also argued that teenage mental health is influenced by a range of factors and cannot be attributed to the use of a single social media platform.

The case comes amid growing legal and regulatory pressure on Meta and other major technology companies over the safety, privacy and wellbeing of children and teenagers on social media.