IN EARLY October a sequel(续集，续篇) to “The Social Network”, a film about Mark Zuckerberg’s founding of Facebook, is scheduled for release. Called “The Social Reckoning”, it will dramatise(将……戏剧化，改编成剧本) the role of whistleblower(举报人，吹哨人)s who allege(指控，宣称（未经证实）)d that the tech giant hid the fact that its products were harmful. Some of the characters involved will take part in a no less vivid drama involving Facebook, Instagram and their parent company, Meta, in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California.(其中一些相关人物将参与一场同样生动的现实戏剧，涉及Facebook、Instagram及其母公司Meta，地点在加州奥克兰的联邦法庭。) Oral arguments started on August 18th. Reckoning or not, the trial may be a blockbuster(轰动一时的大片/大事件).
今年10月初，讲述马克·扎克伯格创立Facebook的电影《社交网络》的续集即将上映。这部名为《社交清算》的影片将戏剧化呈现举报人的角色，他们指控这家科技巨头隐瞒其产品有害的事实。其中一些相关人物将参与一场同样生动的现实戏剧，涉及Facebook、Instagram及其母公司Meta，地点在加州奥克兰的联邦法庭。口头辩论已于8月18日开始。无论是否清算，这场审判都可能成为轰动一时的大案。
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are leading a group of 29 states that are suing Meta over allegations that its platforms developed features harmful to children, and that it violated their privacy. In opening arguments(开庭陈述，开场陈述), Megan O’Neill, a deputy(副职，副手) attorney-general for California, said that Meta’s business model was to “hook(使上瘾，钩住) the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest(收集，收割（数据）) their data and then hide the truth from the public.” Rob Bonta, California’s attorney-general, has described the case as Meta’s “tobacco moment(烟草时刻，指面临类似烟草业的清算)”, liken(把……比作)ing the firm’s alleged deceptions to those that led to huge payout(赔付，支出)s by tobacco firms in the 1990s.
加利福尼亚、科罗拉多、肯塔基和新泽西州正牵头一个由29个州组成的团体，起诉Meta，指控其平台开发了有害儿童的功能，并侵犯了他们的隐私。在开庭陈述中，加州副检察长梅根·奥尼尔表示，Meta的商业模式是“让用户上瘾，尽可能长时间地留住他们，收集他们的数据，然后向公众隐瞒真相。”加州总检察长罗伯·邦塔将此案描述为Meta的“烟草时刻”，将该公司被指控的欺骗行为与1990年代导致烟草公司巨额赔偿的行为相提并论。
Paul Schmidt, a lawyer for Meta, told juror(陪审员)s that the company took its responsibility to young users seriously, adding that there was no clear link between youngsters’ social-media use and ill health. Meta is expected to fight efforts by the plaintiff(原告)s to turn the trial into a referendum(全民公投，公决) on the impact of social media on children, focusing instead on the narrow legal issues in dispute. Its lawyers have asked why it is being singled out, when youngsters’ use of YouTube, owned by Google, and TikTok, created by China’s ByteDance, is even higher than it is of Instagram.(其律师质疑为何单单针对Meta，而年轻人对谷歌旗下YouTube和中国的字节跳动创建的TikTok的使用率甚至高于对Instagram的使用率。)
Meta的律师保罗·施密特告诉陪审员，公司认真对待对年轻用户的责任，并补充说，年轻人的社交媒体使用与健康状况不佳之间没有明确联系。预计Meta将抵制原告将审判变成对社交媒体对儿童影响的全民公投的努力，转而专注于争议中的狭义法律问题。其律师质疑为何单单针对Meta，而年轻人对谷歌旗下YouTube和中国的字节跳动创建的TikTok的使用率甚至高于对Instagram的使用率。