Meta is on trial in Oakland, with 29 U.S. states accusing it of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to addict children — using infinite scroll, algorithmic feeds, and push notifications to keep young users hooked for hours. Internal documents and whistleblower testimony suggest the company knew these features could harm mental health but deployed them anyway, prioritizing engagement and ad revenue over child safety.
The stakes are astronomical: Meta warns penalties could reach $1.4 trillion, though states cite figures closer to $193 billion. Beyond fines, the lawsuit seeks court-ordered changes to product design—age verification gates, bans on infinite scroll and push notifications for minors, and deletion of AI models trained on children’s data.
This trial follows two major youth-harm losses for Meta in 2026, including a New Mexico case that resulted in a $942 million judgment and a $567 million abatement fund for youth mental health. Federal and state regulators have also investigated Meta for illegally harvesting data from users under 13, violating child privacy laws.
With kids at the centre of this addiction game, the case exposes how young users’ data is harvested and their attention monetized — turning childhood into a revenue stream with unknown long-term consequences.
USERS AREN’T JUST ADDICTED. THEY’RE EXPLOITED BY DESIGN.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.