Social Networks Face Big Tobacco Moment Over Addiction Claims

"Facebook, Google and other tech giants for more than a decade have rejected allegations that they build products deliberately to get kids addicted to social media. For the first time, company executives, including Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, will answer these accusations in front of a jury as part of a trial that's drawing comparisons to Big Tobacco's reckoning with consumer addiction three decades ago."

"Facebook and Instagram parent Meta and Google's YouTube are at the center of the trial, with Zuckerberg expected to testify in Los Angeles as early as next week. The trial will serve as a critical test for thousands of similar pending lawsuits that also target TikTok Inc. and Snap Inc. - and which allege that the world's most popular products were designed by the four companies to profit at the expense of young people's safety and mental health."

"This case, a personal injury suit brought by the Social Media Victims Law Center in Seattle, centers on a 20-year-old woman from Chico, California, who claims she has been addicted to social media for more than a decade. Her nonstop use of the platforms has caused anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia, she alleges. The woman recently reached confidential settlements with Snap and TikTok, but they are part of two other so-called bellwether cases set for trials in April and June."

Company executives including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in a landmark trial alleging Facebook, Instagram and YouTube were designed to addict minors. Plaintiffs claim products were engineered to profit at the expense of young people's safety and mental health. Tech companies deny wrongdoing and say they added parental tools and resources. The Seattle personal injury suit centers on a 20-year-old who alleges decade-long social media addiction causing anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia. Confidential settlements were reached with Snap and TikTok in related cases. The trial could set precedents for thousands of pending lawsuits and lead to multibillion-dollar settlements similar to tobacco and opioid cases.

Read at Bloomberglaw