GoKawiilMeta has been hit with successive losses in court over how its platforms have targeted and harmed young users, but a jury trial set to begin on Tuesday may pose the biggest threat yet to its operations.
The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023 by 30 US states, including California and New York, in which they claim numerous violations of federal and state privacy laws for children.
Not only are the states seeking upwards of $1 trillion, external from Meta, they are demanding it make changes to Instagram and Facebook, including ending "like" counts and infinite scroll.
Should Meta ultimately lose a case of this scale, it could force fundamental changes to the way young people experience social media.
The states suing Meta are asking for many more changes to the way Instagram and Facebook operate for young people, too.
They want Meta to:
implement a process of parental verification for teenage users
change its "dopamine-manipulating recommendation algorithms"
remove many image filters that change one's appearance in photos
end autoplay of video content
... continue reading