2019年，一份Meta保密幻灯片写道：青少年即使想停也停不下来，今年3月25日洛杉矶陪审团将该幻灯片记入案卷，并在裁决中认定Meta与YouTube对成瘾性产品设计负有责任。该幻灯片也反映了2016年Meta在TikTok和Snapchat份额下滑时的压力，内部把“总青少年使用时长”定为公司目标，因为内部数据显示12岁用户长期留存率是32岁用户的三倍，从而推动更多“青春期前后用户”获客。

内部研究描述了一种“上瘾叙事”：用户察觉到负面影响却无法抗拒，且一名员工称Instagram像“毒品”，团队“基本上在推销毒品”，显示出对年龄黏性差异的有意识利用。

同一模式也出现在FTC于2023年起诉亚马逊的Prime案中：醒目的“获取免费两日达”按钮与一个不易察觉的小灰色退订链接形成对照，而取消流程被隐藏在“伊利亚德流程（Iliad Flow）”中，需要四个页面、六次点击和15个选项，亚马逊称七年内有3500万消费者在缺乏有效同意下被加入。

In 2019, a confidential Meta slide stated that teens cannot switch off Instagram even if they want to, and on March 25 a Los Angeles jury entered the deck into the record and found Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products. The deck also reflected 2016 pressure as Meta lost ground to TikTok and Snapchat, turning “total teen time spent” into a company goal after internal data showed 12-year-olds were three times more likely than 32-year-olds to stay long term, prompting a push to acquire more tweens.

Internal research described an “addict’s narrative”: users knew negative effects yet felt unable to resist, and one employee called Instagram “a drug” and the team “pushers,” indicating deliberate targeting of age-based stickiness.

The same pattern appears in the FTC’s 2023 case against Amazon: the Prime sign-up flow paired a prominent “Get FREE Two-Day Shipping” button with a small gray opt-out link, while cancellation was concealed in the “Iliad Flow” requiring four pages, six clicks, and 15 options, and Amazon said 35 million consumers had been enrolled without meaningful consent over seven years.

Source: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

Subtitle: Marie Potel-Saville

Dateline: The Economist May 2nd 2026