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Meta faces child-addiction lawsuit over Instagram, Facebook

8/21/2026

27 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

A federal court in Oakland heard a lawsuit accusing Meta of designing Instagram and Facebook to addict children.
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey joined nearly 30 states seeking billions in damages and platform changes.
Meta says it enforces age limits, offers teen-only accounts and displays suicide-related warnings.
Former engineer Arturo Béjar testified Meta knew under-13 users existed but did not fully deploy detection tools.

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Story summary

A federal court in Oakland heard a lawsuit accusing Meta of designing Instagram and Facebook to addict children.
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey joined nearly 30 states seeking billions in damages and platform changes.
Meta says it enforces age limits, offers teen-only accounts and displays suicide-related warnings.
Former engineer Arturo Béjar testified Meta knew under-13 users existed but did not fully deploy detection tools.