Trillion-Dollar Trial Against Meta for Harming Kids Starts Today - The Tuesday AM Quickie 8/18/26
Amazon is living up to its origins as a cursed bookstore by destroying old books to train AI. -Whitney
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8/18: Sam and Emma are in the studio today. Their guest is Priya Jain, assistant professor in the department of architecture and associate director of the Center for Heritage Conservation at Texas A&M University. Priya will discuss the disastrous proposed revisions to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
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Today you’ll read about Trump’s threats against a strategic partner, the deadly floods in Indiana, and the debate that made Tim Pool so scared he had to run away.
THE BIG NEWS
Trillion-Dollar Trial Against Meta for Harming Kids Starts Today
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking damages from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta that could total $1.4 trillion in a trial starting today in Oakland, California, the AP reported. The states accuse Meta of hurting children on purpose and “contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that get children addicted to its platforms.” They also say Meta “routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.” Plaintiffs are seeking changes to how Instagram and Facebook operate in addition to the damages; the NYT coverage of the trial puts the amount at $200 billion. Both figures are contained in a court filing and both would be more than a typical fine or settlement, which companies like Meta consider a cost of doing business and bake into their annual budgets.
Meta is facing thousands of lawsuits over its harm to children and this one may be “more consequential” than all the rest, the AP said; the four plaintiffs are joined by 25 other states that are expected to have subsequent trials. Meta, of course, disputes the claims and says the trial will demonstrate that it cares a lot about kids. Just look: it uses AI to “determine if kids under 13 are using Instagram or if teenagers are lying about their age to access adult accounts.” What? You want more?! Yes. States want much more.
Per the AP, they “seek to land a major blow” against Mark Zuckerberg’s world-ruining Meta: