"My Son Was Murdered"... 'Trial of the Century' Begins

A long banner was unfurled in front of a federal court in California, U.S.

Parents who lost their children to social media addiction took to the streets in protest, holding banners bearing the names and ages of their children.

The parents expressed their anger, claiming that Meta, the world's largest social media company operating Facebook and Instagram, knew about the risks of adolescent addiction and mental health yet deceived the public into believing its services were safe.

[Shannon Hickok / Mother of a victim: This is not an accident. My son did not take his own life. He was murdered.]

[Mary Roddy / Mother of a victim: Meta and other companies have built empires on exploitation and are hiding behind outdated laws. Meanwhile, families like ours are left to live with heartbreaking tragedies.]

A lawsuit filed against Meta by 29 U.S. state governments three years ago has entered its full-fledged legal battle.

State governments argued that Meta created platforms that induce addiction and collected children's personal information without parental consent.

[Rob Bonta / California Attorney General: This trial is about our children, the next generation. Children deserve guaranteed safety, yet Meta has engaged in illegal conduct. We are here to hold Meta legally accountable.]

If Meta loses the case, the estimated fines it would face amount to 193 billion dollars, or approximately 270 trillion won.

Unlike previous major social media damage lawsuits that took place in state courts, this trial is being conducted in a federal court. Depending on the outcome, it could even alter how social media platforms operate, making the potential fallout across the entire industry quite significant.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also scheduled to testify in the trial, which is expected to last for about six weeks.

(Video by Lee Hee-hoon, Video Editing by Kim Byeong-jik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.