00:00Meta is facing a new trial over allegations that it deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children.
00:08Juris election began on Wednesday in California, with four states in the United States taking the lead in the case,
00:14which has been compared to past legal battles over the tobacco industry.
00:20Prosecutors from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey will try to show that Meta knowingly designed features
00:27that kept children engaged on its platforms.
00:31The states first sued Meta in 2023, accusing the company of harming children and violating state laws.
00:38Essentially what they're alleging is that Meta, you knew some things about your products,
00:45about how Instagram and Facebook affected young people and kind of the compulsive nature to engage online.
00:53You said some things publicly to really downplay the risk, and yet you knew internally that the risk was quite
01:01great.
01:01And so you were saying something different in your internal emails and in your meetings
01:06than you were when talking to the press or to Congress or to investors.
01:13Meta strongly denies the allegation, saying it has long worked to support young people
01:18and has listened to parents and consulted experts.
01:21The case is being watched closely as one of the most significant legal challenges yet
01:26to social media companies over their impact on children's mental health and safety.
01:31So I'm watching this trial because of what we're going to learn.
01:37So when we think about big, massive trials in the past or big, massive litigations in the past,
01:45you know, I think about tobacco and I think about opioids,
01:48both of those, just like social media in some ways, really affected the population
01:54and arguably like social media, really harmed the population.
01:59Eight jurors were selected on Wednesday,
02:01but they will only have an advisory role with the judge making the final decision.
02:06Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify,
02:10as is Instagram head Adam Mozzeri.
02:13Opening statements are set to begin August 18th.
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