Landmark Trial Against Meta Regarding Children's Mental Health and Data Practices Begins in U.S. Federal Court
A landmark trial has commenced in a U.S. federal court in California against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, concerning its alleged impact on children's mental health and data practices. The trial, presided over by District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers with an advisory eight-person jury, involves accusations from 29 states, with California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey leading the initial proceedings. These states allege that Meta deliberately designed its social media platforms to be addictive for young people, contributing to a youth mental health crisis, and that it collected data from children under 13 without parental consent, violating federal law. Megan O’Neill, a deputy California attorney general, stated that Meta's design strategy was to 'hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public,' which she claimed was particularly effective with children. The states are seeking billions in damages and fundamental chan... 
