Lawyers in the US state of Tennessee have accused Meta of ignoring the dangers that the Instagram platform may pose to the mental health of teenagers.
Reuters reported that lawyers from the US state of Tennessee told a jury in a Nashville court on Monday that Meta's leadership ignored even the company's own research on the impact of the Instagram platform on teenagers, in an effort to maximize profits from young users.
This came during opening arguments in a seven-week trial before the state court in Tennessee, where state lawyers said Meta researchers repeatedly pointed out that some teenagers use the Instagram platform compulsively, leading to eating disorders, depression, and self-harm. Despite these warnings, Meta did not disable features such as autoplay, notifications, and infinite scrolling of videos, which the lawyers said were designed to keep teenagers on Instagram for as long as possible and increase the number of ads they see.
The lawsuit, filed by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office led by Jonathan Scrimetti, seeks to impose financial penalties on Meta and a court order directing Instagram to modify aspects of the platform that the state considers harmful to the mental health of teenagers.
If the jury finds the company liable, the trial will enter a second phase before Judge Russell Perkins, who will decide whether to order the company to pay fines and make changes to Instagram to make it safer for teenagers.
In contrast, Meta's lawyer asserted that "the company has been transparent about the risks teenagers face on Instagram and the amount of dangerous content they find, and that the company is doing its best to discover and resolve problems."
The Tennessee lawsuit is the second state-level case to reach a jury. Earlier this year, a New Mexico jury found Meta guilty and ordered it to pay $375 million. Additional financial penalties are currently being considered, as well as an order requiring the company to change its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apps in the state.
