Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Google’s YouTube face ‘addictive design’ lawsuit; Mark Zuckerberg likely to testify

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta and YouTube parent Google are facing a California state court case over whether these social media platforms harmed a woman’s mental health through their addictive app design with proceedings kicking off on Monday (February 9).

Opening statements began in the case of K.G.M., a 20-year-old woman who sued both the companies in 2023. The suit claims that Meta “steered and connected users – including children – to sexually explicit, exploitative and child sex abuse materials and facilitated human trafficking” within the state.According to news agency Reuters, the trial serves as a test for whether social media companies can be held liable for the psychological well-being of their youngest users.

Importantly, this case is among the first to reach a jury, placing a spotlight on the underlying technology and algorithm of Instagram and YouTube.

What are the charges against Instagram and YouTube

K.G.M. alleged that she became addicted to these social media apps as a child because of its features that are specifically engineered to maximise user attention. According to court filings, she claims this addiction fueled depression and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, her legal team argues that Meta and Google were negligent, failing to warn the public about the inherent risks of their products.

This trial is different from previous ones – that focus on specific harmful content – because it targets the architecture of the apps: the algorithms, infinite scrolls and notification systems are are alleged “harmful by design”.Reuters says that Meta and Google have prepared their defenses, including showcasing their existing tools designed to protect youth and manage screen time as well as pointing to other factors in K.G.M.’s

personal life that may have contributed to her mental health struggles.

Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify

According to a report in CNBC, Instagram head Adam Mosseri is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify next week. The proceedings are anticipated to last through March. Co-defendants TikTok and Snap reached settlements with K.G.M. shortly before the trial began.Meanwhile, Meta faced another trial in Santa Fe, where the state attorney general accused the company of allowing sexual exploitation of minors on its platforms. Many of New Mexico’s allegations against Meta were derived from an undercover operation conducted by the attorney general that involved the creation of a fake social media profile modeled after a 13-year-old girl.