Meta: at the opening of its trial in California, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram accused of having “baited” children

Does Meta have “baited” children on Instagram and Facebook “hiding the truth”or tasked its teams with identifying and resolving problems of excessive use of social networks? The first federal trial against the American giant opened on Tuesday, August 18, in Oakland (California), near San Francisco, with two irreconcilable stories.

“Meta, one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world, has waged a campaign to mislead its users, lawmakers, teachers and parents.”castigated Megan O’Neill, deputy attorney general of California, in front of the jurors who will examine the case until the end of September.

“There is no dispute that Meta has both recognized that some people may have difficulty managing their use of social networks, and sought to design tools to help them”replied Paul Schmidt, listing the group’s positions between 2017 and 2024.

The prosecutor described these tools as “tissue paper barriers”only 0.2% of adolescents having actually used the function “take a break”For example.

Already convicted twice this year for its impact on minors, Meta is facing four American states which are demanding nearly $200 billion in penalties and an overhaul of its two flagship applications. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey will lead the fight in this lawsuit, leading a total of 29 attorneys general who have been suing the Menlo Park group since 2023.

“Weaknesses of human psychology”

This is the first trial at the federal level for this vast national dispute, which also targets TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, surrounded by proceedings from families, school communities and American states which accuse them of having degraded the mental health of adolescents.

“No company, as rich, as influential, as untouchable as it believes itself to be, should be able to place itself above the truth, the law and our children”Lori Schott, founder of the Parents RISE collective, told the media, who came to demonstrate in front of the court with other mothers accusing the platforms of being responsible for the suicide or mental disorders of their children.

The accusation is in three parts: Meta allegedly lied about the harmfulness of its applications for adolescents, designed certain features to retain them, and collected data from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of a federal law.

The group is being asked, according to provisional figures, for some $193 billion. The four complaining states denied on Thursday that they were aiming for 1,400 billion, a total calculated by Meta for, according to them, “create astonishment”. For the defense, the case boils down to a disagreement over how Meta sought to improve himself, without any demonstrable deception.

Prosecutors began the battle by showing the jury internal documents in which employees wrote that the group’s functionalities “exploit the weaknesses of human psychology”. “This document was written by people whose mission is to ensure that Facebook does no harm”objected Paul Schmidt, describing employees who “identify problems and work to resolve them”.

“Security considerations came second”

The two camps delivered two versions of an episode that has become central in the proceedings against Meta, that of the authorization of filters imitating cosmetic surgery in 2019-2020. Meta had suspended them, consulted experts who recommended banning them, then Mark Zuckerberg decided to reinstate them after being informed of the impact on growth, the accusation argues. No, replies the defense: the suspension lasted ten months, the time to decide between security and freedom of expression and to favor the latter, due to lack of solid data on the dangers.

The eight jurors who will attend these weeks of arguments will render an advisory verdict at the end of September or the beginning of October. But it is judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, known for having sanctioned Apple and arbitrating the recent trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI, who will decide alone.

To conclude the day, Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineer who became a figure in the families’ struggle, was the first witness interviewed. The judge had rejected Meta’s request, according to her “desperate”to dismiss it.

When he was hired, he said, the slogan “Move fast and break things” (“Move fast and break things”) reigned: “We had to get products into the hands of users as quickly as possible; therefore, security considerations took second place. »

Mark Zuckerberg is the star witness announced, six months after his first appearance before a jury in Los Angeles, which resulted in a historic conviction, which Meta appealed.