Instagram’s teen problem lands Meta in court

Lawyers representing 29 U.S. states accused Meta on Tuesday, August 18, of concealing internal research showing that Instagram was addictive to teenagers, as a landmark legal challenge against the social media company opened in federal court in Oakland, California.

In opening statements, state attorneys general said Meta knew its products could harm children but failed to disclose that information while continuing to prioritise profits.

Megan O’Neill, a deputy attorney general for California, told jurors that protecting children was a shared responsibility.

“I heard from many of you at jury selection that the health and well-being of kids is a shared responsibility,” O’Neill said. “Meta didn’t do its share.”

She said the government would present witness testimony and internal documents uncovered during its investigation. One document stated, “the young ones are the best ones”, while another said: “Teens are hooked despite how it makes them feel. Instagram is addictive.”

“They knew,” O’Neill said. “Time and again, profits won.”

The lawsuit accuses Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, of deliberately designing addictive products that encourage young people to spend more time on its platforms and damage their mental health.

The jury trial is expected to last six to eight weeks and will include testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and other company executives. Former Meta employee and whistleblower Arturo Béjar was the government’s first witness.

The 233-page lawsuit, filed in October 2023, alleges that Meta regularly collected data on children under 13 without parental permission, violating federal and state laws. The attorneys general say Meta “refuses to abandon its use of known harmful features” and acts to “maximize its financial gains”.

The case was filed jointly by 29 state attorneys general under a multidistrict litigation framework, with lawyers from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey leading the trial.

The states say damages could reach $200 billion, roughly equivalent to Meta’s 2025 annual revenue. They are also seeking changes to the design of Meta’s products to make them safer for children.

Meta denies the allegations. Its lawyer, Paul Schmidt, said government lawyers had selectively quoted internal documents and emails taken out of context. He said Meta had conducted studies to determine “what can we do to support teens in this space”.

Schmidt said Meta had disabled more than 1 million accounts belonging to children under 13 and was “acting in a meaningful way to remove” young users.

A company spokesperson said the states were pursuing an “outlandish payout” and argued their claims were unsubstantiated and financially disproportionate.

The attorneys general allege Meta “developed and refined a set of psychologically manipulative” features, including infinite scrolling, constant notifications, “likes” and appearance-altering filters, to maximise time spent on its platforms.

By Tamilla Hasanova