US Trial Claims Meta, YouTube ‘Engineered Addiction’ in Kids
In a striking analogy, lawyer Mark Lanier compared social media platforms to casinos and addictive drugs during his opening statements on Monday in a landmark trial in Los Angeles. This trial aims to hold Instagram owner Meta and Google’s YouTube accountable for the harms inflicted on children who engage with their products. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, and YouTube, owned by Google, are facing allegations that their platforms intentionally design features that create addictive experiences for children, keeping them engaged for extended periods. TikTok and Snap, initially mentioned in the lawsuit, have reached settlements for amounts that remain undisclosed. Jurors received their initial insight into what promises to be an extensive trial marked by conflicting accounts from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants. Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt addressed the division among scientists regarding social media addiction, noting that some researchers contend it is either nonexistent or that the term ‘addiction’ may not accurately characterize intense social media usage. Attorneys for YouTube are set to deliver their opening statement on Tuesday. Lanier, the plaintiff’s lawyer, made engaging opening statements, asserting that the case will be as “easy as ABC” – which he defined as “addicting the brains of children.” He stated that Meta and Google, “two of the richest corporations in history,” have “engineered addiction in children’s brains.” He presented jurors with a multitude of internal emails, documents, and studies conducted by Meta and YouTube, along with materials from YouTube’s parent company, Google. He highlighted the results of a study conducted by Meta titled “Project Myst,” in which they surveyed 1,000 teenagers and their parents regarding their social media usage.
Lanier stated that the two major findings were that Meta was aware children who experienced “adverse events” such as trauma and stress were especially susceptible to addiction, and that parental supervision and controls had minimal effect. He also emphasized internal Google documents that compared certain company products to a casino, along with internal communication among Meta employees where one individual remarked that Instagram is “like a drug” and that they are “basically pushers.” Central to the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old known only by the initials “KGM,” whose situation may set a precedent for how thousands of other similar lawsuits against social media companies will unfold. She, along with two other plaintiffs, has been chosen for bellwether trials—essentially serving as test cases for both parties to gauge the effectiveness of their arguments in front of a jury. KGM made a brief appearance following a recess during Lanier’s statement, and she is scheduled to return to testify later in the trial. Lanier dedicated time to detailing KGM’s childhood, emphasizing her personality prior to her engagement with social media. “She started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9,” Lanier said. Prior to her graduation from elementary school, she had uploaded 284 videos on YouTube. The outcome of the trial may significantly impact the companies’ operations and their approach to children engaging with their platforms.
Lanier remarked that the companies’ lawyers will “try to blame the little girl and her parents for the trap they built,” referring to the plaintiff. She was a minor when she stated that she became addicted to social media, which she asserts had a detrimental impact on her mental health. Lanier stated that although Meta and YouTube publicly claim to prioritize the protection of children, their internal documents reveal a contrasting narrative, explicitly identifying young children as part of their target audiences. The attorney also drew comparisons between the social media companies and tobacco firms, citing internal communication between Meta employees who were concerned about the company’s lack of proactive action regarding the potential harm their platforms can have on children and teens. “For a teenager, social validation is survival,” Lanier stated. The defendants “engineered a feature that caters to a minor’s craving for social validation,” he stated, discussing “like” buttons and similar functionalities. In his opening statement on behalf of Meta, Schmidt articulated that the central issue in the case is whether the platforms played a significant role in KGM’s mental health challenges. He dedicated a significant portion of his time to reviewing the plaintiff’s health records, highlighting the numerous challenging situations she faced during her childhood, such as emotional abuse, body image struggles, and bullying. Schmidt showcased a segment from a video deposition featuring Dr. Thomas Suberman, one of KGM’s mental health providers. Dr. Suberman stated that social media was “not the through-line of what I recall being her main issues,” further noting that her difficulties appeared to primarily arise from interpersonal conflicts and relationships. He depicted a scenario – with KGM’s own text messages and testimony highlighting a tumultuous home environment – of a notably strained relationship with her mother.
Schmidt acknowledged that many mental health professionals do believe social media addiction can exist, but stated that three of KGM’s providers – all of whom recognize this form of addiction – have never diagnosed her with it or provided treatment for it. Schmidt underscored to the jurors that the case does not revolve around the merits of social media, the amount of time teenagers dedicate to their phones, or the jurors’ personal feelings towards Meta. Instead, the focus is on whether social media played a significant role in KGM’s mental health challenges. A series of trials commencing this year aim to hold social media companies accountable for the detrimental effects on children’s mental health. Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are anticipated to provide testimony at the Los Angeles trial, which is projected to span six to eight weeks. Experts have noted parallels to the Big Tobacco trials that culminated in a 1998 settlement mandating cigarette companies to pay billions in healthcare costs and impose restrictions on marketing aimed at minors.
A separate trial in New Mexico commenced with opening statements on Monday. In that trial, Meta faces allegations of not safeguarding young users from sexual exploitation, stemming from an undercover online investigation. In late 2023, Attorney General Raul Torrez initiated a lawsuit against Meta and Zuckerberg, who was subsequently removed from the case. A federal bellwether trial set to commence in June in Oakland, California, will mark the inaugural case representing school districts that have taken legal action against social media platforms regarding the detrimental effects on children. Furthermore, over 40 state attorneys general have initiated lawsuits against Meta, asserting that the company is detrimental to young individuals and exacerbating the youth mental health crisis by intentionally creating features on Instagram and Facebook that ensnare children in addiction to its platforms. The majority of cases were filed in federal court, while others pursued legal action in their respective states.
