Meta discusses US child privacy settlement, Bloomberg says

Meta and several US states have discussed a possible settlement during a major child privacy and consumer protection trial, Bloomberg News reported, citing anonymous people familiar with the matter.

A coalition of 29 states accuses Meta of deliberately designing its products to hook children, gather their data and mislead the public. The states say Meta violated state and federal laws, though the allegations vary by state.

If Meta loses the case, the states could seek about $200 billion in penalties and ask for changes to the company's products.

California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky are leading the case in a courtroom in Oakland, near San Francisco. Representatives for Meta and California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Several state attorneys general issued media advisories late Tuesday saying they would hold press conferences on Wednesday about consumer protection and technology announcements. Colorado said it would announce “a major update in a Big Tech case.” Nevada, which is not part of the California trial, said it would announce a “settlement” with “a leading technology company.”

Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified on Tuesday as the trial entered its second week. He said he had promoted newly launched safety tools for teenagers without disclosing low adoption rates from early testing several years ago. Other witnesses have testified that Meta knew the tools were not effective and that they were “designed to fail.”

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify at some point in the trial.