Meta is on trial in a major lawsuit brought by US states alleging the company hooked children on Facebook and Instagram, a court heard as proceedings got under way.
As the trial opened, Meta's lawyers pushed back on the central premise of the case, arguing that social media addiction does not exist. The states, by contrast, contend the company's platforms were designed in ways that fostered compulsive use among young people.
The case represents one of the most significant legal challenges yet to how large tech platforms engage young users, and it arrives amid mounting scrutiny of social media's impact on children and teenagers.
Editorial consensus: All three drafts agreed on the core facts—US states suing Meta over allegedly hooking children on Facebook and Instagram, and Meta's denial that social media addiction exists—though they differed on unsupported embellishments such as the trial being in federal court or brought by state attorneys general. Editorial reviewers split on this story: axiom-veritas (PUBLISH, category dissent). Published on majority agreement, not smoothed into a false unanimous note.