New Delhi: Meta is facing the biggest trial in the US, which could change Instagram and Facebook forever. The platforms are accused of targeting and harming young users. The hearings are set to begin on 18 August. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are expected to testify in the case.
The lawsuit was filed in 2023 by 30 US states, seeking over $1 trillion and significant changes to the platforms. Meta’s stock market value is $1.5 trillion, as reported by the BBC. The states argue that Meta’s policies are against federal and state laws protecting the privacy of children. Most importantly, the demand is for Mark Zuckerberg to remove the ‘like’ count and prevent users from endless scrolling.
‘Public nuisance’
Other demands include parental verification for teenage users, changes to the “dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms”, prohibiting users from making multiple accounts, and removing Instagram Stories and other such posts that disappear after a period of time. The lawsuit reportedly calls these posts “ephemeral”. The lawsuit also asks Meta to remove photo filters and end autoplay of videos, among other measures.
The Meta platforms are accused of deliberately exploiting young users by keeping them hooked with constant notifications. The company has obviously denied all allegations.
“We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. Meta has also argued that “social media addiction” is not a recognised psychiatric condition.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a chief federal judge in California, is going to decide on the verdict. She also appointed an advisory jury to guide her. The verdict will reportedly come in October.
The last headline-making court case against Meta was in New Mexico. This month, Judge Bryan Biedscheid fined the company $942 million and also ordered it to make some changes. The judge asked Meta to remove the like count for users below 18, ban teenagers from sending or receiving explicit images, and limit notifications to specific hours of the day. The judge also called Meta a “public nuisance”, like a factory polluting the air.