On Monday, Meta Platforms, Inc.
(NASDAQ:META) was hit with renewed legal challenges as Tennessee alleged the company prioritized engagement and ad revenue over concerns about Instagram's effects on teenagers.
Tennessee Says Meta Ignored Internal Warnings During opening statements in a Nashville courtroom, attorneys for Tennessee argued that Meta's internal researchers repeatedly identified links between compulsive Instagram use and issues such as eating disorders, depression and self-harm among teens, Reuters reported.
Despite those findings, the state alleged Meta continued using features including autoplay, push notifications and infinite scroll because they kept teenagers on the platform longer and exposed them to more advertisements.
The state's legal team played the familiar smartphone notification sound for jurors, saying unpredictable alerts trigger dopamine responses that encourage repeated use, particularly in developing teenage brains.
