Megan O Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told the eight-person jury that Meta s business model was to hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public. It worked especially well for Megan O Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told the eight-person jury that Meta s business model was to hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then...
Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told the eight-person jury that Meta’s business model was to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public.”
“It worked especially well for kids,” O’Neill added. “Meta needed kids, and it needed to reassure the people who cared about those kids that the kids are safe.”
Meta’s lawyer Paul Schmidt said there was “no dispute” that some social media users face struggles, but that research showed no clear link between adolescents’ social media use and a lack of well-being. He also said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, shared the company’s desire to improve its services, and not make them dangerous.
“They don’t believe they’re going to do well if people don’t like their service,” Schmidt said.
Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict, but US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will determine Meta’s liability.
Attorneys general said at a hearing last week the amount could be closer to $200 billion, or about three years of after-tax profit for Meta.
Bejar has long said Meta knew its child safety tools did not work, and has testified against the company in four trials. Meta sought to block his testimony, allegedly for deleting Signal messages with former employees, but Rogers rejected what she considered a long-shot bid to eliminate a key witness. Bejar told jurors that “move fast and break things” was a mantra at Meta, which took a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to monitoring whether children under 13 were online.
“Many products were shipped into the world,” such as Reels short-form videos, “and safety was not a consideration in how it was initially deployed,” Bejar said.
Meta shares traded lower most of Tuesday and closed down 4.4% at $543.67.
O’Neill said the states were not trying to put Meta out of business, saying social media “has some benefits for some people.”
But she said Meta exploited children by researching how their brains work and react to online stimuli, and tracking their interactions on its apps.
Some critics of Meta spoke outside the courthouse as the trial began.
