If Meta loses this trial, Instagram and Facebook could change forever

If Meta loses this trial, Instagram and Facebook could change forever Kaley, a young woman who prevailed in her suit against Meta earlier this year, testified during trial that she created dozens of accounts on YouTube and Instagram to generate likes for her own posts, hoping to boost engagement and her feelings of validation and self‑worth. She was nine years old at the time. She said she recalled feeling depressed, a condition she was first diagnosed with at age ten. Research over the past several years has shown that engagement metrics such as like counts can trigger feelings of rejection and depression among teenagers. In the states’ lawsuit against Meta, in which the company said it has turned over more than two million documents, lawyers cited Meta’s own research indicating that like counts drive “social comparison”—the mental process of measuring one’s own worth against the images of others. That social comparison, driven by Instagram, was linked to “increased loneliness, worse body image, and negative mood or affect,” according to Meta’s internal research. As Judge Biedscheid wrote in his order—which marked the first time a social‑media platform has been deemed a “public nuisance”—the way Meta’s platforms have operated for more than a decade has contributed to a growing “youth mental‑health crisis” in New Mexico and elsewhere. Now attorneys from 30 additional states are urging Judge Gonzalez Rogers to reach the same conclusion.