Meta, TikTok and YouTube face landmark trial over youth addiction claims 

Tech giants Meta, TikTok and YouTube are facing a landmark trial over allegations that their platforms negatively impact mental health among youth, marking the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury.

The case kicks off on Tuesday in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, with the jury selection process expected to take at least a few days, as 75 potential jurors are questioned each day through at least Thursday.

The trial is considered a test case for thousands of other lawsuits seeking damages for social media harms. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.

Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks.

The plaintiff is a 19-year-old woman from California, identified as KGM, who said she became addicted to the companies’ platforms at a young age. Importantly, she claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits.

She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to hold the companies liable. Her lawsuit is the first of several cases expected to go to trial this year that centre on what the plaintiffs call “social media addiction” among children.

“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says.

Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions of dollars in healthcare costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.

This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.

The tech companies have hired lawyers who have represented corporations in high-profile litigation involving addiction.

They dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevvy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.

Since at least 2018, Meta has sponsored parent workshops about teen online safety at dozens of high schools across the US. TikTok also sponsored similar gatherings and offered tutorials on features for parents, including the option to limit screen time at night.

Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction – which supports smartphone bans in schools – told the news agency Reuters that the tech companies were “using every lever of influence that you can imagine”.

“It can be very confusing for parents who to trust,” she added.

France’s lower house on Monday voted in favour of banning children aged below 15 years from ‍social media. The legislation will now go to the Senate before a final vote in the lower house.

Australia in December became the first country to ban children aged below 16 on social media platforms. Countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain and Greece are also studying a social media ban.