alt Hacker NewsUltimately, I think this is going to come down to proving exactly the extent of what Meta knew, and what they decided to do about it, and how that violated various laws.
I wager there is a foot gun component to this, in which Meta has tried to preemptively, either through gestures of goodwill or public reassurance or PR, institute various think tanks, work groups, and internal studies with an intent to alleviate the public's worry.
Those studies and workgroups actually could end up demonstrating that their products and algorithms and user interfaces, indeed, caused whatever this trial accuses them of doing. And if they didn't act according to what their internal data showed, I bet this is going to be the crux of the trial.
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Yeah, the internal research could be far more damaging than the existence of the harmful effects themselves
I’d bet that an exceptional legal team could make a pretty solid case based purely on the volume and testimony of behavioral psychologists on their payroll
People at Meta knew it was bad, and brought it up to higher leadership.
At some point choices were made, with full awareness of the tradeoffs, to move products in a specific direction.
Absolutely none of this, the harms, the patterns, the tech, is unknown to people who work in trust and safety, content moderation, and policy.
At various times, meta and other tech firms did try to hold the line, but they eventually succumbed to the financial pressures they were under.
If there is any lesson to be taken, it is that ideals don’t survive beyond a few years in contact with market incentives.