Meta is facing a lawsuit in Tennessee over claims that Instagram was built to addict teens
Meta is facing a trial in Tennessee over allegations that Instagram was deliberately designed to keep teens hooked on the app, thus contributing to a growing mental health crisis.
According to Reuters, the state of Tennessee is accusing the social media platform of violating the state’s consumer protection law by knowingly designing a product that drives teens to compulsive use and misleading the public about its safety.
Tennessee’s Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, alleges that Meta failed to disclose extensive internal research showing that Meta knew about mental health problems with younger users and neglected to warn them.
Skrmetti also claims that Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg was repeatedly informed by employees about studies linking Instagram to mental health issues among teens. Yet, he failed to intervene and implement measures to reduce those risks.
The case specifically focuses on features like autoplay, Reels, push notifications, and content that disappears, saying these things make younger users feel like they can’t stop using the app.
Skrmetti is seeking financial penalties. On top of that, he’s asking the judge to impose a court order demanding that Meta will have to make changes to its addictive design features.
A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that the company is doing whatever it can to protect children who use social media every day.
“We want them to do that in a protected space, which is why we’ve spent a decade building safe, age-appropriate defaults for teens alongside simple tools for parents to set the right boundaries for their family,” he said.
Earlier this month, the European Commission preliminarily concluded that Meta was in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for Instagram’s addictive design, thereby contributing to “unhealthy habits and compulsive use.”
“Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms. The Digital Services Act provides a clear framework to hold platforms accountable for the addictive design and effects of their services. We are fully committed to enforcing our legislation in Europe,” Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said in a statement at the time.