Meta, TikTok and YouTube are on trial over whether their apps hurt children

"Social media apps have long been accused of being harmful to children. Now those claims will come before a jury for the first time in a trial kicking off Tuesday in a Los Angeles courtroom. A key question will be whether tech companies deliberately built their platforms to hook young users, contributing to a youth mental health crisis. The jury's decision could have big consequences for the tech industry and how children use social media."

"The suits accuse Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok of engineering features that make their apps nearly impossible for kids to put down, like infinite scroll, auto-play videos, frequent notifications and recommendation algorithms, leading in some cases to depression, eating disorders, self-harm and even suicide. (Snapchat is also named as a defendant in these lawsuits, but it settled with the plaintiff in the case going to trial on Tuesday.) The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages as well as changes to the way social media apps are designed. The trial starting on Tuesday in LA will give a rare look inside how the most popular and powerful social media platforms operate."

"Jurors will be presented with thousands of pages of internal documents, including research on children conducted by the companies; expert witnesses; and the testimony of the teenage plaintiff, identified as K.G.M., who says her excessive use of social media led to mental health problems. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram and Facebook owner Meta, and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, are also set to take the stand in the tria"

A Los Angeles trial will test whether major social media firms intentionally designed platforms to hook young users and contributed to a youth mental health crisis. More than 1,000 individual plaintiffs, hundreds of school districts and dozens of state attorneys general have filed lawsuits alleging engineered features such as infinite scroll, auto-play videos, frequent notifications and recommendation algorithms. The suits link excessive use to depression, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide and seek monetary damages and design changes. Jurors will review thousands of pages of internal documents, company research on children, expert testimony and the account of a teenage plaintiff. Senior executives are scheduled to testify.

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