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Will Meta be found guilty of driving social media addiction?

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Will Meta be found guilty of driving social media addiction?

A high-profile case in the U.S. got underway last week and the company may be on the hook for as much as $1 trillion in damages, but questions linger.

Meta is facing arguably the most significant legal challenge in its history, with a coalition of 29 state attorneys general in the U.S. alleging that the company intentionally designed addictive systems, despite knowing that those systems pose risks to users.

The trial began in California last week, and some projections estimate that if the finding goes against Meta, the company could face more than $1 trillion in damage claims, per Reuters.

That would be a crippling blow for the business. Meta’s current market cap is around $1.5 trillion, but that’s before factoring in the hundreds of billions of dollars Meta has invested into artificial intelligence development.

So what are the actual allegations against Meta, and is the company likely to lose the case?

Here’s a look at the two critical claims that are on trial.

At its core, the case against Meta relates to social media addiction and whether social media apps can be habit-forming in a medically diagnosable sense.

Meta said social media addiction is not a recognized psychological condition verified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Therefore, the company argued, this cannot be considered a legal liability.

It’s possible Meta will be able to win against this claim because the balance of academic research is in the company’s favor, though that’s partially based on a technicality.


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