Overview
- State attorneys opened the seven-week trial in Nashville on Monday by telling jurors Meta's leadership ignored internal studies showing some teens used Instagram compulsively and suffered depression, eating disorders and self-harm.
- Prosecutors played a phone notification sound and presented a 2017 internal document in which Meta product managers wrote that notifications and infinite scroll “are inherently at odds with well-being.”
- Meta responded in opening statements that the same documents show the company studies harms, builds tools to limit problematic use and seeks to empower parents and educators rather than shoulder sole responsibility for social problems.
- Tennessee seeks both financial penalties and a court order forcing Instagram to modify features such as autoplay, push notifications and infinite scroll, with a separate remedies phase to be decided if the jury finds liability.
- The case is part of a wider push by nearly every U.S. state and a San Francisco multidistrict litigation, and follows a New Mexico jury earlier this year that found Meta liable and ordered $375 million, meaning any Tennessee outcome could affect nationwide remedies and teen safety rules.