Meta Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Alleged Harmful Design and Child Safety Violations
A landmark federal trial has commenced against Meta Platforms, with a consortium of states accusing the company of intentionally designing its platforms, Instagram and Facebook, to be addictive for young users. The lawsuit alleges that Meta employed features like infinite scroll, photo filters, and the 'like' button to encourage compulsive use among minors, despite knowing the potential for harm. California Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neill stated that Meta's business model focuses on 'hooking' users, 'holding' them, 'harvesting' their data, and then 'hiding' the truth about the platforms' impact. The states also claim Meta violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting data from users under 13 without parental consent. Meta has denied these allegations, asserting that the claims are unsubstantiated and that the company has implemented strong protections for teens, including privacy settings and usage timers. Paul Schmidt, a lawyer for Meta, argued that the states are selec... 
