Meta Heads To Trial After Court Says It Can’t Hide Behind Section 230
Jury selection for the first major trial against Meta's allegedly addictive social media design has begun — just days after a court cleared the way for similar lawsuits.
Jury selection for the first major trial against Meta’s allegedly addictive social media design has begun — just days after a court cleared the way for similar lawsuits.
A jury of eight was sworn in Wednesday in the Oakland federal court trial brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, KTVU reported. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the Clinton-era Section 230 does not block lawsuits, allowing a 2023 multi-state suit to move forward, according to the Associated Press.
“The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate,” a Meta spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” the Meta spokesperson added.
Section 230, which former President Bill Clinton signed into law as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, asserts that online platforms cannot be held legally liable for content posted on them by third parties.
Meta accused the states of disregarding the facts in pursuit of a payout and maintained it has built strong protections for kids using its applications.
“Facebook and Instagram ‘encourage addictive behavior, fail to verify users’ ages, encourage adolescents to bypass parental controls, and inadequately safeguard against harmful content and/or intentionally amplify harmful and exploitive content,'” the Ninth Circuit