Meta faces child privacy trial over Instagram and Facebook

Meta heads to federal court Tuesday in a landmark trial that could force major changes to Instagram and Facebook and expose the company to penalties that state officials say could reach more than $1 trillion.

The case, brought by state attorneys general, accuses Meta Platforms of designing its social media apps to hook children and teenagers, misleading the public about the risks, and collecting data from children in violation of privacy law. The company denies the allegations.

Four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and product changes under consumer protection laws, NPR reported. The BBC reported that the broader lawsuit, filed in 2023 by 30 U.S. states including California and New York, seeks more than $1 trillion and sweeping changes to how young people use Meta’s platforms.

The states say Meta built features such as the “like” button, infinite scroll, autoplay video and recommendation algorithms to keep young users on Facebook and Instagram as long as possible. They also want changes including parental verification for teenage users, limits on image filters that alter appearance, a ban on multiple accounts, an end to disappearing posts such as Instagram Stories, and changes to what they call “dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms.”

“We allege in our complaint, and what we’re prepared to prove at trial, is that they’re deceiving consumers about Facebook and Instagram’s dangers,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport told NPR. “They’re putting the profits … over the health of a generation of young people.”

The lawsuit also alleges Meta knew children under 13 were using Instagram and Facebook, despite company rules barring them, and collected personal information about them without parental consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Meta said the claims are unfounded. “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 to the BBC. In a separate statement to NPR, a Meta spokesperson called the states’ financial demands “vastly disproportionate” and said, “We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court.”

The trial will be heard in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. It is expected to last about six weeks. Gonzalez Rogers also presided this spring over Elon Musk’s high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI.

The case is part of multidistrict litigation consolidating thousands of similar lawsuits. Legal experts told NPR the strategy resembles past litigation against tobacco and opioid manufacturers, with plaintiffs focusing on product design rather than user-generated content, an approach intended to avoid some legal protections social media platforms have under the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Meta has already faced court losses over related claims. In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for the depression and anxiety of a young woman who compulsively used social media as a child and awarded her $6 million, NPR reported. In New Mexico, the BBC reported that Judge Bryan Biedscheid fined Meta a collective $942 million and ordered changes including eliminating like counts for users under 18 and limiting push notifications. NPR reported that a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million and implement new safety measures after a jury found the company failed to protect young users from child sexual exploitation. Meta said it would appeal the New Mexico ruling, according to the BBC.

If the states prevail, the required changes could reshape Facebook and Instagram for young users across much of the United States. The BBC reported that the 30 states involved represent nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population.