By
Benjamin Hart,
staff editor at Intelligencer who joined New York in 2017
“Did I do that?”
Meta has endured a lot of scandal and controversy over the years, but its status as one of the most valuable companies in the world was never really in danger. Now, though, Mark Zuckerberg’s company may be facing an actual existential threat. Following a series of whistleblower revelations about its dubious methods of marketing itself to children, the company faces a barrage of lawsuits from states, schools, and individuals. Meta recently lost two such cases in state court, but those were small potatoes compared to the federal trial that began last week in California, brought by that state alongside Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. (The four states were trimmed from 29 that filed suit.) The states, who are seeking $200 billion in damages, argue that Meta intentionally designed features on two of its blockbuster products — Facebook and Instagram — to be addictive to children, and should be liable for the harm its platforms caused as a result.
