{"id":1675,"date":"2026-08-27T04:38:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2026-08-27T04:38:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:38:50","slug":"the-meta-lawsuit-is-pickin-on-the-wrong-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1675","title":{"rendered":"The Meta Lawsuit Is Pickin\u2019 on the Wrong Chicken"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A<\/span>s the seemingly heroic state attorneys general bring the putatively villainous Meta to trial in federal court in Oakland, California, our credulous media, to no one\u2019s surprise, ask no probing questions about the allegations\u2019 merit. So, we ask them here.<\/p>\n

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To be sure, many young people so overuse Meta\u2019s social media platforms \u2014 Facebook and Instagram \u2014 that such excess can contribute to mental health problems or worsen existing ones. But isn\u2019t this just another way of saying Meta has produced great products that people might enjoy compulsively? (RELATED: Circling Like Vultures: California Leads New Attack on Facebook)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the logic of sensible product liability enforcement. Should McDonald\u2019s be held liable if someone eats too many Big Macs, causing weight gain and diabetes? Are licensed dispensaries responsible when consumers obtain and overuse marijuana?<\/p>\n

What is the legal theory allowing, it seems, a potentially company-destroying jury verdict or Court Order? In the past few years, Meta officials have denied their social media platforms are addictive, mainly in response to government inquiry. This appears to be the main basis for the government\u2019s claims. (RELATED: Don\u2019t Sue the Mirror)<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be sure, there is no medically recognized condition known as \u201csocial media disorder.\u201d But the Court notes that even if extended social media use is not an addiction<\/em>, at least it is compulsive use<\/em>, which it deems an unimportant distinction. Meta would contend that there is a clear distinction between compulsive use and medically recognized addiction, and therefore has responded truthfully to government investigation. (RELATED: Suing Social Media Won\u2019t Save the Children \u2014 But It Could Silence Everyone)<\/strong><\/p>\n

More to the point, assuming arguendo<\/em> that Meta dishonestly denied causing addiction, did these purported lies cause young people to stay on their devices for hours at a time? It does not seem so; but, that said, no such proof appears to be required under consumer protection statutes, so long as Meta can be found to have lied to the \u201cpublic.\u201d<\/p>\n

For these so-called lies, the attorneys general are seeking \u201cdisgorgement\u201d of all related profits or, alternatively, damages for the ad revenue gained, likely totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, up to a possible maximum of 1.4 trillion dollars, the entire worth of the company.<\/p>\n

So, what is wrong with these claims? If Meta knowingly drives increased usage by youth, as it seems to, isn\u2019t it responsible when many young people use it excessively? Such a conclusion raises several troubling issues.<\/p>\n

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Isn\u2019t the more proximate cause the parents, guardians, schoolteachers, and administrators who condone the overuse by the youth they supervise?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

If no young person has ever heard Meta deny that its platforms are addictive, how could those alleged denials have caused the widespread social media overuse? More importantly, in many, if not most, cases, wouldn\u2019t a parent or guardian have been aware of the compulsive use but failed to intervene? Why should a company with no authority over the affected users bear responsibility for their mental health, when the people closest to them \u2014 such as parents with legal responsibility for their welfare\u2014appear to have permitted the behavior?\u00a0(RELATED: Parents Have Everything They Need to Keep Their Children Safe Online)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t the more proximate cause the parents, guardians, schoolteachers, and administrators who condone the overuse by the youth they supervise? And if this compulsive use was known to be harmful, what did public health officials do about it? Aren\u2019t state and public health officials subject to oversight by the same attorneys general bringing this case? And therefore aren\u2019t these same attorneys general responsible for this widespread mental disorder, when they are doing nothing about ordering their own houses?<\/p>\n

Additionally, there is the issue of Dr. Anthony Fauci\u2019s shutting of schools during COVID, even though students were not in any mortal danger from the virus. Wasn\u2019t Dr. Fauci, far more than Meta, responsible for an epidemic of adolescent social media addiction which arose when these young people were imprisoned in their own dwellings, with no personal contact with friends?\u00a0(RELATED: How COVID Created the 15 Second Generation)<\/strong><\/p>\n

And how are the states going to spend the windfall gained from this trial? Will they use it to solve the social media disorder problem, or install EV battery charging stations? Moreover, won\u2019t any adverse judgment have the perverse result of taking pressure off the neglectful, irresponsible parents, guardians, and educators who should be disciplining youth to stay off their devices? It seems so.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the litigation could be beneficial if the Court were to order practical safeguards to discourage underage overuse of social media platforms. Even at that, no such order will be effective without vigilance by parents and guardians. But let\u2019s be real: a judgment of billions of dollars will not help anyone other than grandstanding attorneys general.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Circling Like Vultures: California Leads New Attack on Facebook<\/strong><\/p>\n

No Social Media Without Papers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Socializing and Longevity: Does Online Count?<\/strong><\/p>\n

John D. O\u2019Connor is a former federal prosecutor and the San Francisco attorney who represented W. Mark Felt during his 2005 revelation as Deep Throat. O\u2019Connor is the author of the books\u00a0<\/em>Postgate: How the Washington Post Betrayed Deep Throat, Covered Up Watergate and Began Today\u2019s Partisan Advocacy Journalism\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>The Mysteries of Watergate: What Really Happened. O\u2019Connor and Mark Felt also collaborated on the 2006 book,\u00a0<\/em>A G-Man\u2019s Life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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