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.
A coalition of 29 state attorneys general are trying to force unprecedented changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate as part of the landmark case in Oakland, Calif. The trial could upend Meta’s business model and result in up to $1.4 trillion in damages, according to the company.
Meta’s business model comes down to four simple “H” words, Megan O’Neill of the California AG’s office said in her opening statement, according to Bloomberg: “Hook the user, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth.”
“The young ones are the best ones – they are the ones most likely to get hooked, they’re the ones that are most likely to make money in the long run,” she added.
Meta, which earns the vast bulk of its revenue from digital advertising, is accused of violating federal law by harvesting kids’ data without parental consent.
The states claim that certain core features of Facebook and Instagram, like the “like button” and recommendation algorithms, are intentionally addictive and have fueled a teen health crisis that includes anxiety, depression, self-harm and even suicide.
O’Neill referenced internal Meta emails as alleged proof of the company’s intentions – including internal chat logs in which Meta employees compared Instagram to a “drug” and said “we’re basically pushers.”
“Meta found the younger a kid is when they start using the app, the better,” the prosecutor said. “The more likely they are to remain a user, the more likely they are to make Meta money in the long run.”
Four lead states – Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, in addition to California – also allege that Meta misled the public about the extent of those safety risks.
Attorneys for Meta have strenuously denied wrongdoing and accused the state AGs of seeking penalties that far outstrip the scope of their case.
In his opening statement, Meta’s lawyer Paul Schmidt argued that Zuckerberg and his allies have aimed to improve Facebook and Instagram and taken many steps to protect kids online – including parental oversight tools and time limits for social media use.
“You will hear over the course of this case a lot of important issues, issues like teen mental health, issues like social media, issues like how teens use social media,” Schmidt said. “Those are important issues, and they’re issues where Meta believes that it has a responsibility.”
He admitted that Meta’s employees would sometimes use “loose” language behind the scenes, but added that the jury would hear directly about the steps workers took to make the apps safer for kids.
Ahead of the trial, Meta slammed the states’ claims in a fiery statement, asserting that “rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout.”
The trial is expected to last roughly six weeks, with Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri each expected to be called to the witness stand.
O’Neill said in a pre-trial hearing that about $200 billion is a more realistic figure for damages that Meta could face if it loses in court. He suggested the company floated the $1.4 trillion for “shock value.”
The state AGs also want a court order forcing Meta to delete any illegally harvested data from kids under age 13 and to stop using algorithms trained on that data. They’re also seeking to bar Meta from using “certain addictive design features” including infinite scroll and autoplay features.
That would be an unprecedented blow to the company, which was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion after losing a similar case in New Mexico, along with part of a $6 million verdict after being found liable for hooking a teen named “KGM” on its apps in California state court.
Critics of Meta’s practices, including some of the families of victims of online harm, gathered outside the Oakland courthouse to protest ahead of the trial. The group included Mary Rodee, a New York resident who lost her 15-year-old son Riley to suicide in 2021 after he was targeted in a sextortion scheme on Facebook.
“They call it spontaneous suicide,” she was quoted as saying by Reuters. “I call it what it was — the predictable outcome of a system that protects corporations instead of children.”
While a jury will hear arguments and render an advisory verdict in the case, it will be up to District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to make a final decision on specific damages and potential changes to how Meta does business.
With Post wires
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