The trial will likely put Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the witness stand.
By Catholics for Catholics
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were headed to court Tuesday, in an attempt to defend themselves in a bellwether social media addiction case, according to a story by The Daily Wire.
The three social media giants face accusations by a 19-year-old woman, referred to as K.G.M., who claims that the companies willingly have designed their platforms to get children and young adults addicted to their sites. A California Superior Court in Los Angeles County is set to hear the case; also sued were TikTok and Snapchat, but they settled with the plaintiff before the trial started.
K.G.M. contends that social media platforms have created their platforms to get children and young users addicted. Studies have shown that social media features such as autoplay and infinite scroll lead to a dopamine hit, which can induce users to spend hours on platforms each day.
K.G.M.’s said that her social media addiction ended in a devastating depression, body dysmorphia, and having suicidal thoughts, according to the lawsuit. K.G.M.’s case is just the first of many that are expected to go to trial this year, targeting Snapchat, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, which is owned by Google. Snapchat settled with K.G.M., but it remains a defendant in various other social media cases that are set to go before state and federal courts.
YouTube told The Daily Wire that the allegations it faces in the cases “are simply not true.”
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” said YouTube spokesman José Castañeda. “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”
Jury selection for the trial starts on Tuesday, with opening arguments previewed for next week. The case is part of a concerted effort across the country that includes hundreds of similar cases where litigants accuse social media giants of fueling addiction.
Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat told The Daily Wire that it was “pleased” to have settled the K.G.M. case in “an amicable manner.” The K.G.M trial will probably put Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the witness stand, where he will have to respond to questions in front of a jury. Meta’s lawyers told Reuters that the social media giant will argue before the court that its platform did not lead to K.G.M’s mental health issues.
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