Four US states (California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey) are seeking up to $1.4 trillion from Meta Platforms in a federal trial in Oakland, California. They allege the company deliberately engineered addictive features on Facebook and Instagram, such as infinite scroll and like buttons, to maximize young users’ engagement time. The plaintiffs tie these design choices to mental health consequences among minors, including anxiety, depression, and body image issues. The states also claim Meta collected data from children under 13 without proper authorization, violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Expected to last six to seven weeks, the trial could set a major legal precedent for holding social media companies liable for their product design decisions.
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