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Megan O'Neill Leads State Attorneys General in Landmark Trial Against Meta Over Youth Social Media Addiction

Deputy California Attorney General Megan O'Neill opened the case against Meta Platforms Inc. in a landmark trial seeking to determine if the company's social media platforms are excessively addictive to children. Representing a bipartisan group of 29 states, O'Neill argued that Meta's business model intentionally designed features like infinite scrolling to hook young users, harvest their data, and hide the truth regarding the potential dangers to mental health. Meta's legal team, led by Paul Schmidt, defended the company's efforts to improve user experience and argued that the states' demand for a $1.4 trillion statutory maximum payout is an outlandish figure. The company contends that the correct damage amount is closer to $200 billion. Beyond monetary awards, the trial focuses on whether the court will mandate structural changes to Meta's algorithms and age-verification standards. A favorable verdict for the states could provide a litigation playbook for future cases involving other social media giants. The trial is expected to run for approximately seven weeks, with Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri expected to testify.

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