LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� The world’s biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening statements in one such trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court began on Monday.
Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. TikTok and Snap, which were originally named in the lawsuit, .
Jurors got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterized by dueling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining social media companies named as defendants.
Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt spoke of the disagreement within the scientific community over social media addiction, with some believing it doesn鈥檛 exist or that addiction is not the most appropriate way to describe heavy social media use.
鈥楢ddicting the brains of children鈥�
Mark Lanier delivered the opening statement for the plaintiffs first, in a lively display where he said the case is as 鈥渆asy as ABC,鈥� which he said stands for 鈥渁ddicting the brains of children.鈥� He called Meta and Google 鈥渢wo of the richest corporations in history鈥� that have 鈥渆ngineered addiction in children鈥檚 brains.鈥�
He presented jurors with a slew of internal emails, documents and studies conducted by Meta and YouTube, as well as YouTube鈥檚 parent company, Google. He emphasized the findings of a study Meta conducted called 鈥淧roject Myst鈥� in which they surveyed 1,000 teens and their parents about their social media use. The two major findings, Lanier said, were that the company knew children who experienced 鈥渁dverse events鈥� like trauma and stress were particularly vulnerable for addiction; and that parental supervision and controls made little impact.
He also showed internal Google documents that likened some company products to a casino, and internal communication between Meta employees in which one person said Instagram is 鈥渓ike a drug鈥� and that employees are 鈥渂asically pushers.鈥�
At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials 鈥淜GM,鈥� whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials 鈥� essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.
Plaintiff grew up on YouTube, Instagram
KGM made a brief appearance after a break during Lanier鈥檚 statement and she will return to testify later in the trial. Lanier spent time speaking about her childhood, and particularly focused on what her personality was like before she began using social media, saying her mother called her a 鈥渃reative spark鈥� as a child. She started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9, Lanier said. Before she graduated elementary school, she had posted 284 videos on YouTube.
The outcome of the trial could have profound effects on the companies’ businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms.
Lanier said the companies鈥� lawyers will 鈥渢ry to blame the little girl and her parents for the trap they built,鈥� referencing the plaintiff. She was a minor when she said she became addicted to social media platforms, which she claims had a detrimental impact on her mental health.
Lanier said that despite the public position of Meta and YouTube being that they work to protect children and implement safeguards for their use of the platforms, their internal documents show an entirely different position, with explicit references to young children being listed as their target audiences.
Lanier also drew comparisons between the social media companies and tobacco firms, citing internal communication between Meta employees who were concerned about the company鈥檚 lack of proactive action about the potential harm their platforms can have on children and teens.
鈥淔or a teenager, social validation is survival,鈥� Lanier said. The defendants 鈥渆ngineered a feature that caters to a minor鈥檚 craving for social validation,鈥� he added, speaking about 鈥渓ike鈥� buttons and similar features.
Meta pushes back
In his opening statement representing Meta, Schmidt said the core question in the case is whether the platforms were a substantial factor in KGM鈥檚 mental health struggles. He spent much of his time going through the plaintiff鈥檚 health records, emphasizing that she had experienced many difficult circumstances in her childhood, including emotional abuse, body image issues and bullying.
Schmidt presented a clip from a video deposition from one of KGM鈥檚 mental health providers, Dr. Thomas Suberman, who said social media was 鈥渘ot the throughline of what I recall being her main issues,鈥� adding that her struggles seemed to largely stem from interpersonal conflicts and relationships. He painted a picture of a particularly troubled relationship with her mother, with KGM鈥檚 own words in text messages and testimony pointing to a volatile home life.
Schmidt acknowledged that many mental health professionals do believe social media addiction can exist, but said three of KGM鈥檚 providers 鈥� all of whom believe in the form of addiction 鈥� have never diagnosed her with it or treated her for it.
Schmidt emphasized to the jurors that the case is not about whether social media is a good thing, the content seen on social media, whether teens spend too much time on their phones or whether the jurors like or dislike Meta, but whether social media was a substantial factor in KGM鈥檚 mental health struggles.
One case of thousands
鈥淭his was only the first case 鈥� there are hundreds of parents and school districts in the social media addiction trials that start today, and sadly, new families every day who are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products,鈥� said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the nonprofit Tech Oversight Project.
Jurors are not being asked to stop using Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or any other forms of social media throughout the course of the trial 鈥� which is expected to last about eight weeks 鈥� but Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl emphasized that they should not make any changes to the way they interact with the platforms, including changing their settings or creating new accounts.
Kuhl said that jurors should decide the liability of Meta and YouTube independently when they deliberate.
A separate , meanwhile, also kicked off with opening statements on Monday.
KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit 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. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and , which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in health care costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.
The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.
A reckoning for social media and youth harms
A slew of trials beginning this year seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being.
In New Mexico, for trial on allegations that Meta and its social media platforms have failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation, following an undercover online investigation. Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez in late 2023 sued Meta and Zuckerberg, who was later dropped from the suit.
A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.
In addition, more than against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.
also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.
Other countries, meanwhile, are enacting new laws to limit social media for children. In January, banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms Australia has by kids under 16.
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Ortutay reported from Oakland, California. Associated Press Writer Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this story.
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