Twenty-nine US states have gone to trial against Meta in a high-stakes legal battle accusing the tech giant of designing addictive algorithms that harm youth mental health.

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund and enforce strict feature caps on Instagram and Facebook to protect youth mental health.

Regulators claim Meta’s social media design induces compulsive behavior in users, prompting demands to reconfigure algorithms and disable autoplay features.

EU regulators have formally accused Meta of using design mechanics like infinite scroll and autoplay, threatening penalties of up to 6% of global turnover. The action marks an escalation in the enforcement of the Digital Services Act regarding user mental and physical health.

Meta faces potential redesign mandates and significant EU fines as regulators identify features like infinite scrolling and autoplay as harmful to user health.