"'Social media companies are building traps' Mark Lanier, the lawyer representing 20-year-old plaintiff identified by her initials "KGM" told jurors the companies "engineered addiction in children's brains," citing internal documents and research. The plaintiff KGM contends that she suffered severe mental harm after she became addicted to social media as a child. According to Lanier, she began using YouTube at six and Instagram at nine, posting 284 YouTube videos before finishing elementary school."
"Lawyers for Meta countered that there is no scientific consensus on social media addiction and argued the plaintiff's mental health struggles stemmed from family issues, emotional abuse, body image issues and bullying, and not platform use. Jose Castaneda, a YouTube spokesperson, said "the allegations in these complaints are simply not true." Executives including Meta head Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri are expected to testify during the trial which is expected to last several weeks."
"Several landmark trials in the US this year are seeking to hold social media companies liable for alleged harm to children. On Monday, Instagram's owner Meta and Google-owned YouTube went on trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court in one of the first US jury cases accusing the platforms of deliberately designing addictive products that damage young users' mental health. TikTok and Snap, which were initially named in the case, settled earlier for undisclosed sums."
Several landmark U.S. trials seek to hold social media companies liable for alleged harm to children. Meta and Google-owned YouTube face a Los Angeles jury case accusing the platforms of deliberately designing addictive products that damaged a young user's mental health. TikTok and Snap settled earlier for undisclosed sums. The plaintiff identified as KGM alleges severe mental harm from early and intensive platform use, starting on YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine. Plaintiff lawyers cite internal documents and research alleging engineered addiction. Meta and YouTube deny the allegations, cite lack of scientific consensus, point to other causes, and assert legal protections.
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