Meta exploited children by deliberately making Instagram and Facebook addictive, huge US trial hears

Meta knowingly hooked and exploited children, a US federal court heard on Tuesday.

A landmark trial has begun in California over allegations Meta deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive.

A court has heard claims that Meta intentionally hooked a generation of children on Facebook and Instagram, as the social media platform faces its biggest legal challenge.

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

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms META.O rejected accusations by U.S. states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

Lawyers representing 29 US states on Tuesday accused Meta of hiding internal research that allegedly found Instagram could be addictive for teenagers, The Guardian reported.The allegations were made as a major legal battle against Meta began in a federal court in Oakland, California. The trial is expected to continue f

Meta argued social media addiction does not exist, as a trial stemming from a major lawsuit brought by US states got under way.

Meta rejects claims it sought to hook children to Facebook, Instagram as landmark trial begins  Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta built its apps to be addictive for kids and then lied to the public about health risks so it could rake in massive profits, a California prosecutor said as a historic federal trial kicked off Tuesday.

Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neil said in her opening arguments in an Oakland courtroom that the company "exploited how kids' brains work".

It's the latest and biggest trial against a social media company with billions of dollars being sought in damages for alleged social media harms to young people.

Meta founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg is among the star witnesses expected to testify.

Twenty-nine US states are seeking huge damages, claiming Meta’s platforms were addictive by design In 1994, more than 40 US states came together to sue one of the most powerful industries on earth: big tobacco. The suits brought together diverse claims centred on tobacco companies’ misleading advertising and contributi

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 billi

Meta faces making major changes to how children use social media platforms should it lose a lawsuit brought by more than half of US states - the company denies allegations against it

Group of 29 U.S. states seeking up to hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to the company’s social-media apps

A Meta spokesperson said the states’ claims are unsubstantiated

Social media giant Meta, is set to defend itself in a landmark trial. They are accused of knowingly and deliberately designing features which get children under the age of 13 addicted to its platforms. Story by Delano D'Souza.

A coalition of states suing Meta Platforms over claims Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harmed young users’ mental health will begin making its case on Tuesday in California federal court in a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

A coalition of states suing Meta Platforms over claims Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harmed young users' mental health will begin making its case on Tuesday (Aug 18) in California federal court in a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.Attorneys for Colorado, Californ