A seven-week case starting Monday in Nashville will test whether Instagram features such as autoplay, Reels and disappearing content violate Tennessee consumer protection law.
Meta Platforms goes to trial in Tennessee on Monday over allegations that Instagram was knowingly designed to drive teenagers into compulsive use and that the company misled the public about the platform's safety. The lawsuit, brought by Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office, seeks financial penalties and a court order requiring changes to features the state says harm teens' mental health, including autoplay, Reels, notifications and content that disappears after a set period. Jury selection begins in Nashville for the first phase of a seven-week trial, with jurors set to decide whether Meta violated Tennessee law. If they find that it did, a judge would later consider monetary penalties and possible changes to Instagram; the state's consumer protection law allows fines of up to $1,000 per violation. Meta says it has spent a decade building age-appropriate safeguards for teens and tools for parents, and argues that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (U.S. law limiting platform liability for user content) shields it from claims tied to posts created by users. The Tennessee case is the second state trial against Meta over children's safety claims and will overlap with other California proceedings, including an August 18 federal trial brought by 29 states and another case set for July 27 involving Snap Inc and a 15-year-old Florida boy known as R.K.C.