Meta is in a court in California.

The court is a federal court.

Meta is defending itself.

People say Meta's apps hurt children.

Four states say Meta makes features to get children hooked.

The features are on Instagram and Facebook.

The states want billions of money.

They also want Meta to change its apps.

Meta's lawyer is Paul Schmidt.

He said Meta cares about children's mental health.

He said Meta tries to act on it.

Critics say Meta is not safe enough.

Marc Berkman works for the Organization for Social Media Safety.

He said Meta made safety changes because people were angry.

He said Meta did not make changes because it cared.

He said there is no real wish to act.

Meta says it made changes.

These changes include tools to block users.

They include tools to filter bad comments.

They include warnings before posting bad content.

Meta says adults cannot start private chats with teens.

The adults do not know the teens.

Meta checks that users under 13 are not online.

In 2024, Meta made "Teen Accounts."

Meta calls it a safe place.

It has photo and video limits.

The limits are like a PG-13 movie.

Critics say these changes are just for show.

A report came in September 2025.

Arturo Béjar and four groups made the report.

They said Meta does not take real steps for youth safety.

Haley Hinkle works at Fairplay.

She said the group looked at 47 of Meta's 53 teen safety features.

She said 60% were not there or did not work.

Meta called the report "misleading."

Meta called it "dangerously speculative."

Researchers say Meta does not reduce addictive design enough.

Ashley Shea studies at Cornell University.

She said features like endless scrolling and notifications are bad.

She said they hurt young people's minds.

She said Meta works on bullying and predators.

But Meta does not work on addictive design.

Meta says its time tools show progress.

The tools include parent controls and "nudges."

Hinkle called the tools "entirely voluntary."

She said they are "far too little too late."

Béjar said a tool called "Take a Break" is "designed to fail."

He said few users turn it on.

Shea said legal pressure can push companies to change.

She said "the momentum only continues to grow."