Technology

The Big Story

Meta youth safety trial kicks off in California

The latest kids online safety trial against Meta kicked off Wednesday in a California federal court, where the technology giant is accused of designing its platforms to be addictive for young users.

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File

Jury selection began Wednesday morning in the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., for the case, which consolidates lawsuits from attorneys general across the country.

The lawsuit, filed in 2023, alleges the Facebook and Instagram parent company designed and implemented harmful features that encourage "excessive use" in teens and younger children.

It also accuses Meta of misleading the public about the mental and physical health risks and routinely collecting the data of users younger than 13 without parental consent.

"Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage and ultimately ensnare youth and teens," the complaint stated.

"It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children. And it has ignored the sweeping damage these platforms have caused to the mental and physical health of our nation's youth," it added.

The complaint was originally filed by 29 states, but this month's trial will only cover the first four from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.

“We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people," a spokesperson for Meta told The Hill Wednesday.

"We’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and we’re always working to do better," they added.

An appeals court denied Meta's request to dismiss the case on Monday.

Separately, the court declined to drop the thousands of other online safety lawsuits against social media firms, ruling Meta and TikTok appealed the cases too early.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

Ocasio-Cortez surpasses Newsom as 2028 Dem presidential favorite on Polymarket

(NewsNation) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has moved ahead of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in early prediction-market odds for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. As of Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez had an 18 percent chance of winning the Democratic nomination on Polymarket, narrowly ahead of Newsom at 17 percent. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) ranked third at about 16 percent, according to the data. The New York …

Full Story

New York City Council investigating prediction markets’ marketing practices

The New York City Council announced Wednesday it is investigating four prediction markets for alleged “predatory marketing practices” targeting young people. Council Speaker Julie Menin sent letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase and Gemini Titan on Monday, requesting more information about their advertising in New York City. In a statement shared by her office on Wednesday, Menin drew on her background as a mother, …

Full Story

$23.8M in payments going out to Grubhub diners, drivers: FTC

(NEXSTAR) – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Wednesday it will be sending out hundreds of thousands of payments to settle a lawsuit alleging that Grubhub tricked customers with hidden fees and deceived drivers. The FTC will be sending 640,038 checks or PayPal deposits to affected app users, amounting to more than $23.8 million. Why was the lawsuit filed? The FTC and Illinois Attorney General accused the company …

Full Story

Lawsuit launched over sale of early access to Truth Social posts

A left-leaning publication sued President Trump’s media company on Wednesday over its new product that gives paying Wall Street firms faster access to the president’s Truth Social posts The Intercept filed the lawsuit alongside the Freedom of the Press Foundation, saying the offering violates the First Amendment. “This scheme is profoundly corrupt,” the lawsuit states. “The President stands to gain financially by giving …

Full Story

The Refresh

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Google's new AI boss inherits a race to catch up to OpenAI, Anthropic (CNBC)
Wall Street flirts with a record after AI stocks rise, inflation worries ease a bit (Associated Press)

Just in:

Third Way says Dems don't have to choose between voters, tech development

Matt O'Brien, Associated Press

Data centers do not have to be an all-or-nothing topic for communities and policymakers, the center-left think tank Third Way argued in a new memo.

The memo, published Tuesday, says communities don't have to choose between economic growth and unlimited development "at any cost," as towns across the country contend with how to approach the controversy around data centers.

Democrats have struggled to coalesce around a message on data centers and AI. In the gap, progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have proposed moratoriums on data centers to curb any negative impacts on communities.

But Third Way's Maya Schmidt says, "there is a better way forward."

"One that makes data centers work for communities and their residents, not the other way around," Schmidt, a technology policy advisor wrote.

"The question should not be whether data centers should be built, but how they should be built," she said.

To do this, Third Way said policymakers should prioritize ensuring communities receive clear benefits from data center development.

This includes strengthened local budgets, direct community investments, job opportunities, union and educational partnerships, along with ensuring communities have "a seat at the table."

"Data centers are coming. Blanket moratoriums will not stop AI infrastructure from being built—they will simply send investment elsewhere. But communities don’t have to accept development without meaningful protections," Schmidt wrote.

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

In Other News

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Paramount may leave California over antitrust enforcement, lawyer says

Paramount Skydance’s chief legal officer telegraphed a willingness by the company’s chief executive to leave California as the media company faces growing antitrust scrutiny from the state government there. “His intent is to be committed to California,” Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s top legal official, said at Politico’s The California Agenda: Sacramento Summit. Delrahim added, however, that “there is a point …

Full Story