Meta hooked children on Facebook and Instagram, US court hears

A six-week legal battle commenced in Oakland, California as top attorneys from multiple US states challenged Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, over claims that the social media giant intentionally hooked a generation of children on their platforms. The jury will examine claims brought by various states, including California and New York, alleging numerous violations of federal and state privacy laws for minors.

California's lawyer argued that Meta intentionally targeted children and teens, with millions of 11 and 12-year-olds using Instagram, while doing little to prevent them from doing so. Meta's representative, in response, claimed that only around 100,000 such users were found and argued that social media addiction does not exist. The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023, where the states are seeking billions of dollars from Meta and demanding changes to the platforms, including ending “like” counts and infinite scroll.

During the opening arguments, lead attorney Megan O'Neill of California heavily relied on internal research, employee emails, and chat logs from Meta. One internal research document stated that "Teens have an addict's narrative about use." O'Neill emphasized that despite Meta's awareness of potential negative impacts, the company targeted young people and went out of its way to assure the public that its platforms were safe for kids.

She pointed out the discrepancy between what Meta publicly stated about safety over profits and its internal research that revealed differing effects on users.

Paul Schmidt, a lead attorney for Meta, directly addressed the internal research and highlighted statistics from the document. He noted that 20% of teens said Instagram made them feel worse, while 41% felt better, and another 41% experienced no effect. Schmidt attempted to undermine the claim that Meta intentionally hooked teens and children on the platforms, pointing out that privacy laws made it difficult for Meta to verify the ages of users effectively.

He also reiterated Meta's stance that social media addiction does not exist and cited statements from CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri.