Social media giant Meta, which has billions of users around the world, will appear before a judge in the USA this week due to allegations that it harms children's health.
Experts describe the new lawsuit as a "turning point" in the social media industry.
Four states were named as representatives in a lawsuit filed by a number of states against Meta in 2023, alleging that its apps designed addictive features for children: California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.
Top prosecutors in those states aim to prove in federal court that Meta knowingly made Facebook and Instagram addictive for children.
Company officials oppose the accusations. "We strongly dispute these allegations and are confident that the evidence will demonstrate our long-standing commitment to supporting young people," an unnamed Meta spokesman told AFP.
The spokesperson added that the company is "listening to parents and working with experts and law enforcement."
"We are confident in our record of protecting young people online and will continue to defend ourselves against allegations that misrepresent the facts," Meta told AFP last week.
Although the process in question is not the first lawsuit that aims to hold a social media company responsible for its effects on mental health and safety, it is nominated to be one of the most important in terms of its results.
"This situation is really reminiscent of the tobacco cases in the 1990s," Vincent Joralemon, from the Berkeley Life Sciences Law and Policy Center, told AFP.
Joralemon noted that lawsuits regarding the harms of social media are shaped at the intersection of technology and addiction, but the legal argument in this case against Meta focuses on the company's business practices, as in the lawsuit filed by the federal government against tobacco companies nearly 30 years ago.
By the early 1990s, decades of research had shown that tobacco use caused health problems such as cancer, and subsequent additional investigations had revealed that the industry was deliberately downplaying or even hiding the harmful effects of its products.
Dozens of states in the US sued the four major tobacco companies and won a historic settlement agreement in 1998, which included financial penalties and changes in marketing methods with cartoon characters, especially targeting children.
Jury selection begins today in Oakland, with opening statements expected to be made on August 18.
Meta was found guilty in similar cases in Los Angeles and New Mexico and was sentenced to damages totaling nearly $1 billion.
In the Oakland lawsuit, the states are seeking financial penalties of up to $1.4 trillion, an amount close to Meta's total market cap of about $1.5 trillion, as well as a long list of changes to the company's practices.
Joralemon emphasized that money will not be the biggest problem for Meta if the case is lost, despite the high figure announced, and said, "The real big issue here is the loss of reputation and being forced to make big changes."
Joralemon also stated, "Putting a CEO on the witness stand can also be quite traumatic."
Meta founder and executive Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly among the key witnesses expected to testify.
Nora Freeman Engstrom, a law professor and vice dean at Stanford University, told AFP that this case could be "the beginning of a broader reckoning" for Meta.
Engstrom noted that it will be important to see the "gap" between what Meta knows privately and what he says publicly.
Due to the large number of plaintiffs, the process may take a long time.
Given the large number of plaintiffs suing Meta and other social media companies, these lawsuits "could last decades," Joralemon said.
