"The trial is taking place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where jury selection started on January 27. It's testing out a new legal theory intended to spur greater regulation of social media platforms like TikTok, Snap, YouTube, and Meta's Facebook and Instagram: Lawyers are gearing up to argue that the companies behind these platforms are designing their sites to be deliberately addictive, resulting in direct personal injury to users, especially children."
"Overall, the trial is expected to consist of nine cases, which have been compiled by judges across the nation as some of the strongest bellwethers for this new argument. First on the docket is a case brought by a 20-year-old plaintiff identified as K.G.M., who says that a lack of sufficient guardrails on social media sites during her youth led to compulsive use and mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, self-harm, and risk of suicide."
A Los Angeles County Superior Court trial began jury selection on January 27 testing a legal theory that major social platforms intentionally engineer addictive experiences. The case bundle will include nine bellwether suits compiled nationwide. The first plaintiff, identified as K.G.M., alleges insufficient guardrails during childhood led to compulsive use and multiple mental-health harms including depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, self-harm, and suicide risk. Initial defendants included ByteDance, Snap, Google, and Meta, with Snap and ByteDance settling before trial, leaving Meta and Google. The outcomes could influence broader federal public-nuisance and addiction-related cases this summer.
Read at Fast Company
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