Meta Faces Trial Over Teen Safety Measures

"The case stems from previous testimony submitted as part of a multidistrict litigation against several social media platforms over their efforts to drive growth. Back in 2023, a separate case in the Northern District of California alleged that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube had relentlessly pursued a strategy of growth at all costs, recklessly ignoring the impact of their products on children's mental and physical health."

"Among the various insights revealed within this was that, based on testimony from former employees, Meta has aggressively pursued young users, even though its internal research indicated that social media could be addictive and dangerous to kids. The former staff claimed that concerns had repeatedly been raised internally on this front, as far back as 2017, and solutions had even been submitted to improve its systems, but Meta largely ignored these early on, due to concerns that implementing such could impede growth."

"Meta did eventually implement more stringent privacy protections for all teen accounts in 2024, but now, the company will go on trial, along with other social apps, to answer questions about its approach to teen safety, and whether it prioritizes such versus growth. And that could have major implications for policy relating to social platforms, and how they're shielded from litigation over what users see in their apps."

A California court has begun opening statements in a landmark trial alleging social media companies intentionally designed addictive systems and ignored risks to maximize growth. The litigation traces to prior multidistrict testimony accusing major platforms of pursuing growth at all costs and neglecting children's mental and physical health. Former employees alleged Meta aggressively targeted young users despite internal research showing addiction and danger, and that early safety solutions were ignored to avoid impeding growth. Meta added stricter teen privacy protections in 2024 but now faces trial over whether it prioritized growth over teen safety. A finding that platforms knowingly amplified harmful content could alter Section 230 legal protections.

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