Meta faces landmark US trial over claims it hooked children on social media

Meta is facing one of its biggest legal battles yet as 29 US states accuse the company of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to keep children and teenagers hooked, while failing to properly prevent under-13s from using its platforms.

The six-week trial opened in Oakland, California, with lawyers for the states arguing that Meta knew its products could damage young people's mental health but repeatedly put profits ahead of safety.

California attorney Megan O'Neill told the jury that Meta had discovered “millions” of 11 and 12-year-olds were using Instagram and did little to remove them. Meta disputes that figure, saying it found just over 100,000 users in that age group.

What did Meta know?

The states' case relies heavily on millions of internal Meta documents, including research, emails and employee messages reaching senior executives and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

One internal report reportedly said: “Teens have an addict's narrative about use.” Another concluded that product features designed to increase the time people spent on the platforms were fundamentally at odds with their wellbeing.

O'Neill told jurors that Meta's business model could be summed up as: “Hook the users; hold them for as long as they can; harvest their data; hide the truth from the public.”

She argued that Meta publicly portrayed its platforms as safe for children while its own research painted a much less comfortable picture.

Meta fights back

Meta's lawyers strongly rejected the states' interpretation.

Attorney Paul Schmidt pointed to the same research cited by California, noting that while one in five teenagers said Instagram made them feel worse, 41% said it made them feel better and another 41% said it had no effect.

Meta also disputes the central claim that its platforms are deliberately addictive. Schmidt argued that there is no established research proving that social-media addiction exists and pointed to previous statements by Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri that Facebook and Instagram were not designed to be addictive.

The company also argues that privacy laws themselves made it difficult to identify and track underage users because Meta could not simply collect and retain every piece of information needed to verify their ages.

Billions at stake

The states are seeking billions of dollars in penalties and demanding changes to Facebook and Instagram, including restrictions on features such as infinite scrolling and public “like” counts.

At its heart, the trial is about whether Meta knowingly built a business model around keeping children online for as long as possible — and whether its own internal research proves the company understood the risks while publicly presenting a very different picture.

For Meta, a verdict against it could mean not only a massive financial penalty but potentially major changes to the way its social-media platforms operate.

SOURCE