"Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and death. These can be the consequences for vulnerable kids who get addicted to social media, according to more than 1,000 personal injury lawsuits that seek to punish Meta and other platforms for allegedly prioritizing profits while downplaying child safety risks for years. Social media companies have faced scrutiny before, with Congressional hearings forcing CEOs to apologize, but until now, they've never had to convince a jury that they aren't liable for harming kids."
"For now, YouTube and Meta remain in the fight. K.G.M. allegedly started watching YouTube when she was 6 years old and joined Instagram by age 11. She's fighting to claim untold damages-including potentially punitive damages-to help her family recoup losses from her pain and suffering and to punish social media companies and deter them from promoting harmful features to kids. She also wants the court to require prominent safety warnings on platforms to help parents be aware of the risks."
More than 1,000 personal injury lawsuits claim social media platforms prioritized profits while downplaying child safety risks, alleging addiction led to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and death. A bellwether trial centers on a 19-year-old plaintiff who blames design features like infinite scroll and autoplay for triggering severe psychological harm beginning in childhood. TikTok and Snapchat settled; YouTube and Meta are defending the case and dispute causation, pointing to other factors such as bullying and family issues. The plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages and court-ordered safety warnings to inform parents and deter harmful platform design choices.
Read at Ars Technica
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