The state alleges that Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was repeatedly warned by some employees about research showing Instagram negatively impacted the mental health of young users but declined to fund efforts to reduce those impacts. The complaint specifically targets features including autoplay, Instagram Reels, push notifications, and designs that cause content to disappear after a limited period. Tennessee alleges that these features encourage compulsive use and contribute to depression, anxiety, sleep disruption, and other mental health side effects among young users. The Tennessee proceeding is the second trial of claims brought by a state against Meta over alleged harms to young users. Meta also faces an August 18 trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.