The closely watched case, being heard in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County, centers on a 19-year-old California woman identified in court filings as K.G.M. She alleges that she became addicted to the companies’ social media platforms at a young age due to their attention-driven design features, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
According to the filings, K.G.M. claims prolonged use of the apps worsened her depression and led to suicidal thoughts. She is seeking to hold the companies legally responsible, arguing that their products were deliberately designed in ways that harmed her mental health.
Her lawsuit is the first of several cases expected to go to trial this year that center on what the plaintiffs call “social media addiction” among children. It will be the first time the tech giants must defend themselves at trial over alleged harm caused by their products, the plaintiff's attorney Matthew Bergman said. “They will be under a level of scrutiny that does not exist when you testify in front of Congress,” he told Reuters.
The jury will decide whether the companies were negligent in providing products that harmed K.G.M.’s mental health, and if her use of the apps was a substantial factor in her depression, compared with other causes such as the third-party content she viewed on the apps or aspects of her life offline.
"This is really a test case,” said Clay Calvert, a media lawyer at the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business think tank. “We're going to see what happens with these theories” that the social media platforms caused the plaintiff harm.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is expected to take the witness stand. The company will argue in court that its products did not lead to K.G.M.'s mental health challenges, Meta's lawyers told Reuters ahead of the trial. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also expected to testify, as his company was named a defendant in the lawsuit. Snap agreed on January 20 to settle K.G.M.’s lawsuit. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the deal.
YouTube will argue that the company's platforms are fundamentally different from social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, and should not be lumped together in court, a YouTube executive said ahead of the trial.
TikTok declined to comment about the company's planned arguments in court.
