Meta, U.S. states have discussed settling teen social media harm case: Report

Meta Platforms and state attorneys general have discussed a potential mid-trial settlement ​of a lawsuit accusing the company of deliberately designing Facebook ‌and Instagram to be addictive to young ​users, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing ⁠people familiar with the matter.

The report comes during a federal court trial in California over claims brought by 29 states, in ‌what is one of the highest-profile tests of allegations that social media companies have harmed young ‌users. Just days before jury selection began on ‌August ⁠12, a federal appeals court declined to ⁠halt the trial.

Meta and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside ​of regular business hours.

Late ‌Tuesday, several state attorneys general put out advisories notifying the media of plans for press conferences, including Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, whose office said it planned ‌to announce “a major consumer protection settlement involving a ​leading technology company.”

The claims are part of a broader wave of litigation brought by states, ⁠local governments, school districts and individuals alleging that Meta and other social media companies fueled a nationwide youth mental ‌health crisis.

The federal court trial covered claims from the attorneys general of Colorado, California, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated their state laws protecting consumers.

The trial also covered claims from 29 states that Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by ‌collecting personal data from users it knew were children without parental ​notification or consent and using the data to train machine learning and generative AI models.

Meta ⁠has denied the allegations, saying it has worked ⁠hard to protect children on its platforms. The company had argued it could not have misled consumers ‌about whether its services were addictive because “social media addiction” is not a recognised psychiatric condition.