Meta Ran Thousands of TV Ads Ahead of Teen Addiction Trial

Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. has paid for thousands of television commercials to promote its safety work with teens ahead of a landmark jury trial that will examine whether the company builds products deliberately to get kids addicted to social media.

The ads have appeared on live broadcasts across national networks including CNN, Fox and ABC for the past several months, running more than 3,500 times since November, according to public data collected by the Tech Oversight Project, a Big Tech accountability organization. The ads promote the company’s teen accounts on Instagram, which limit a teen user’s contacts and content settings.