Meta accused of disregarding teen harm research in landmark child safety trial

Meta reportedly disregarded its own research on teen harm, Tennessee lawsuit claims.

In ongoing legal actions and high-profile child safety trials, Meta has faced intense scrutiny and accusations from plaintiffs, school districts, and state attorneys general regarding its handling of internal research on teen mental health.  

Attorneys for the state of Tennessee told a Nashville jury that Meta Platforms' leadership deliberately ignored internal research highlighting the negative impacts of Instagram on teenagers in order to maximize engagement and advertising profit.

During opening statements in a 7-week trial in state court in Tennessee, the state's lawyers said Meta researchers repeatedly flagged that some teenagers were compulsively using the platform, leading to eating disorders, depression and self-harm.

However, despite those warnings, Meta did not disable features such as autoplay, notifications and infinite scroll that, the lawyers said, were designed to keep teens on Instagram as long as possible and increase the number of ads they viewed.

An attorney for Meta countered that the company has been transparent about the risks teens face on Instagram and the amount of dangerous content that it finds. The company works hard to find problems and fix them, he said.

Tennessee accuses Meta of violating the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act by failing to disclose known risks, misleading the public about platform safety, and driving young users toward compulsive behavior.

The lawsuit seeks financial penalties and a court order directing Instagram to modify aspects of the platform that the state says are harmful to teens' mental health.

Nearly every state in the country has filed claims against Meta over its platforms' alleged impact on children. 

More than two dozen of the lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in San Francisco, while many other states have sued in their own courts.

Separately, Meta and other social media companies are facing thousands of lawsuits brought by individuals and school districts.

Kevin Huff, a lawyer for Meta, said the company is searching for problems on its platforms, so it can improve them.

He unveiled that the company has developed tools to help limit problematic use of Instagram, and seeks to empower teachers and parents to help keep teens safe.

Moreover, Huff urged jurors to consider whether Meta should bear sole responsibility for societal problems such as suicide, child exploitation and addiction.

"We think the evidence will show that Meta is doing its part and empowering others to do their part, because protecting teens online is a shared responsibility."

The Tennessee trial is part of an intensifying nationwide wave of litigation targeting big tech companies over youth mental health, following recent high-profile verdicts and state trials focusing on addictive social media architecture.

Notably, Tennessee is seeking substantial civil penalties alongside a court order requiring Meta to modify platform features deemed harmful to adolescent mental health.