Hook, Hold, Harvest, Hide: Inside the State Attorneys General Trial Against Meta

Key points

• California and 28 other US states opened a trial against Meta Platforms, Inc. this week over claims the company knowingly harmed children online.
• Prosecutors say Meta's business model follows four steps: hook users in, hold them on-platform as long as possible, harvest their personal data, and hide the truth from the public.
• The case centres on alleged violations of children's privacy laws and claims that Meta's platforms were designed to be addictive.
• Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, two of the most widely used social media platforms in the world.

The trial opened Tuesday with a striking four-word summary from the lead prosecutor: hook, hold, harvest, hide.

Those four words, she told the court, describe how Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, runs its business. First, it draws users in. Then it keeps them scrolling as long as possible. It collects, or "harvests", their personal data, meaning the details of what they watch, click, share and buy. Finally, according to the prosecution, it conceals what it knows about the damage that causes, especially to young people.

What exactly are the states accusing Meta of doing?

The 29 states allege Meta broke laws designed to protect children's privacy online and that the company built its platforms to be deliberately addictive, meaning they were engineered to make it hard to stop using them, particularly for teenagers. The prosecution argues this was not accidental design but a calculated choice.

California is leading the coalition, which spans states from both sides of the political aisle. That breadth signals how broadly elected officials have grown concerned about the effect of social media on minors. As Guardian Australia noted in its coverage of the opening day, the case is widely described as a landmark, given the size of the company and the number of governments involved.

What does this mean for families?

For parents and teenagers, the trial puts formal legal weight behind concerns many already hold. If the states succeed, courts could force Meta to change how its platforms work, how they collect data from younger users, or how openly they communicate about the risks their own research has found.

Nothing changes immediately for users. Trials take time. But this proceeding will likely shape how regulators across the country think about holding social media companies accountable under existing privacy statutes.

Parents whose children use Instagram or Facebook should know they can review and restrict data-sharing settings inside each app's privacy controls now, without waiting for any court outcome. Schools and youth organisations can also use this moment to open direct conversations with students about how recommendation systems, the software that decides what you see next, are built to keep attention rather than to serve it.

Common questions

Is Meta found guilty already?

No. A trial opening is not a verdict. The states have presented their theory of the case; Meta will present its defence. A judge or jury will then decide.

Could this affect how Instagram or Facebook look and feel?

Possibly, if the states win and courts order specific changes. Regulators in the European Union have already required some alterations to Meta's data practices under the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU's sweeping privacy law, so platform-level changes driven by legal rulings are not without precedent.