A trial that opened this week in California could force Meta to strip some of the most widely used features from Instagram and Facebook, and analysts say the outcome may reshape social media broadly.
The states bringing the case want the court to require Meta to remove what they call addictive design features. According to CNBC, those features include infinite scrolling, autoplaying videos, disappearing content such as Instagram Stories, beauty filters, and algorithm-dominated feeds.
During opening statements Tuesday, California's deputy attorney general, Megan O'Neill, described Meta's approach in direct terms. O'Neill said that Meta is choosing profit over safety, hiding the "reality" of under-13s on its platforms, and that its business model is to "hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public."
Meta has said it faces a potential trillion-dollar penalty and damage to its advertising model if the trial goes against the company.
Kate Winick, a principal analyst at Forrester, described the stakes in broad terms. "This trial is potentially the end of social media as we know it," Winick said. She added that a verdict against Meta would carry consequences well beyond one company. "Any verdict against Meta would set a massive precedent. These trials are often compared to the Big Tobacco lawsuits of the 90s, and the outcome will likely be analogous as well: the product is going to be harder for young people to access and the cultural message around social media is going to change."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Meta is just the beginning. "Who goes first? Who goes last? Ideally, they all go at the same time," Bonta said. "That's not possible. In an ideal world, they would all commit to the same reforms and changes to all kids and keep them safe." Bonta noted that pending lawsuits against YouTube and Snap are also in the pipeline.
Meta and YouTube were already found negligent in a social media addiction trial in Los Angeles in March. In that case, the plaintiff was a young woman who said she became addicted to their apps as a child and that the platforms' design caused her severe body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Winick said platforms like Snap, which has a younger user base, would likely make preemptive changes in response to whatever the court forces on Meta. She also projected a long-term decline in usage rather than an industry collapse. "It's unlikely that this will permanently kill the industry, but it will significantly reduce usage over the long term as young users fail to be introduced to the platforms," she said.
Winick also pointed to a broader risk beyond the current case. "The real existential threat to Meta and social media as an industry is if similar lawsuits follow from adults alleging the same problems and effects," she said.
The trial comes as multiple U.S. state attorneys general are pursuing separate actions against social media companies over harm to minors. No verdict date has been set.
