Seems like the last time I saw Oakland, California, mentioned in the news was when the A’s won the World Series in 1989.
But then, suddenly, there it was again. All over the news.
“The jury trial is taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, and is expected to last six to eight weeks.” — The Guardian, August 18.
“Meta helped fuel a national youth mental health crisis and deceived users by promoting its apps as safe, the states argued in the first bellwether trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland.” — New York Times, August 18.
“The federal trial kicked off last week in Oakland, California, where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been among the witnesses expected to take the stand.” — Associated Press, August 26.
“The settlement comes more than a week into a major trial in Oakland, California, where a jury and a judge were in the midst of hearing arguments from four state plaintiffs…” — Washington Post, August 26.
Why 29 state attorneys general decided to file their case in a backwater town like Oakland, I have no idea. They had their choice of pretty much any city in the U.S. I visited Oakland once — by accident — and to be honest, probably would have picked somewhere else to host a six-week trial.
Maybe they picked Oakland because it was close to Silicon Valley? Without being actually a part of Silicon Valley?
When you’re initiating a trial where the damages threaten to add up to $1.4 trillion, you certainly wouldn’t want the courtroom to be located in Silicon Valley — the Valley of Greed and Deception. You would never know what was real, and what was ‘virtual’.
Looking at the outcome — as reported in the Lamestream Media — I guess Oakland was a reasonable choice. Not great, but also not terrible. Meta was willing to pay billions of dollars to get out of the Oakland courtroom.
Reportedly, Meta agreed to pay out a maximum of $17 billion and change, in penalties to 48 states. Colorado is one of those states.
New Mexico is not one of them. Neither is Florida.
New Mexico sued Meta earlier this year, and a Santa Fe jury found the company liable for 75,000 violations of the state’s consumer protection law.
Count ’em, folks. 75,000 violations. And nobody went to jail?
Meta, who can presumably afford the very best lawyers in the country, ended up owing New Mexico $942 million in penalties. Almost $1 billion. In a state with a population of only 2 million people.
Seems to me Meta got off easy when they settled the Oakland case. There are 330 million people in the U.S. and they have all been abused by Meta. Based on what Meta will have to pay to New Mexico, the Oakland settlement should have been more like $150 billion… not $17 billion.
Florida declined to participate in the Oakland settlement agreement, and I bet they plan to sue the pants off Meta. That’s what I would do, if I were Florida.
I’m glad I’m not Florida, but if I were, I’d sue the pants off those bastards.
But maybe the more important part is Meta’s promise to stop getting children addicted to its social media platforms. Following the settlement announcement, Meta posted to their blog that it was “building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens.”
From The Associated Press, August 26:
“Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta,” the company said. “We want to get this right for parents and teens, and that’s why we partnered with state attorneys general to set a new industry standard.”
Ha! Very funny. “Partnered with state attorneys general…” That’s absolute corporate bullshit. The only ‘absolute imperative’ at Meta always has been, and always will be, getting as many people as possible addicted to social media.
Go get ’em, Florida!
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.