Major trial for Meta, large question for Big Tech

Five years ago, a whistleblower exposed Meta's disregard for evidence that Instagram might harm teenagers. Four US states—California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey—brought a lawsuit against the company, alleging that Meta intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for children. The trial, coming months after a major case in which Meta and YouTube were held responsible for a young user's addiction and ordered to pay $6 million in damages, underscores the growing scrutiny on social media platforms' role in children's mental health.

New Mexico recently described Meta as a "public nuisance" and ordered the company to pay $567 million for endangering children. These cases highlight the debate over whether technology companies owe their users certain responsibilities. The trial results could set a precedent for how Big Tech designs and operates its products in the future, particularly as AI technologies become more transformative.

Questions arise about the extent of knowledge of the harms, whether they were ignored, and whether companies prioritized addictive features over users' mental well-being. These issues are not limited to social media, but also extend to the broader question of how any transformative technology should be designed, governed, and held accountable.