Meta rejects claims it sought to hook children to Facebook, Instagram as landmark trial begins

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms META.O rejected accusations by U.S. states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit, at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

A bipartisan group of 29 U.S. states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business.

Four lead states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, fueling anxiety, depression and even suicide, and misleading consumers about the platforms' safety. All 29 states accused Meta of violating federal law by improperly collecting and using children's personal data.

Experts have called the trial in the Oakland, California, federal court, which began with opening statements on Tuesday, the biggest legal test yet of social media's effects on young users.

Meta and other social media companies including Snap SNAP.N, TikTok parent ByteDance and YouTube parent Alphabet GOOGL.O face thousands of lawsuits by states, municipalities, school districts and individuals over whether their products harm young users.

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 U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will determine Meta's liability.

If she finds Meta liable, Rogers could impose civil penalties and order changes to Facebook and Instagram.

Meta has said penalties could be as high as $1.4 trillion , close to the Menlo Park, California-based company's market value.

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.