A landmark social media addiction trial in which top tech executives are expected to testify begins on Tuesday in California.
The plaintiff, a 19-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, alleges the design of the platforms’ algorithms left her addicted to social media and negatively affected her mental health.
The defendants include Meta – which owns Instagram and Facebook – TikTok’s owner ByteDance and YouTube parent Google. Snapchat settled their case with the plaintiff last week.
The closely-watched case at Los Angeles Superior Court is the first in a wave of such lawsuits, which could challenge a legal theory used by tech firms to shield themselves from culpability in the US.
Meta says it has introduced dozens of tools to support a safer environment for teens online, and the companies are expected to argue any asserted harms are caused by third-party users.
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