In a high-profile Los Angeles trial, plaintiffs contend that Meta and Google engineered social-media features that "addict" children, citing internal studies and messages. The lead bellwether plaintiff, identified as KGM, began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at 9 and says the platforms harmed her mental health. Meta counters that KGM's struggles stem largely from trauma, bullying and family conflict, not social media alone. The six- to eight-week trial could influence dozens of related lawsuits and platform policies.
Landmark LA Trial: Plaintiffs Say Meta and YouTube 'Addict' Children's Brains
FILE - Young people use their phones to view social media in Sydney, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
LOS ANGELES — In opening statements Monday, plaintiffs' attorney Mark Lanier told jurors that Meta (owner of Instagram) and Google (owner of YouTube) designed features that deliberately keep children glued to screens, likening the platforms to casinos and addictive drugs. The case, one of several high-profile suits this year, seeks to hold the tech giants accountable for alleged harms to young users.
What Plaintiffs Allege
Lanier summarized the plaintiffs' thesis with the acronym "ABC" — "addicting the brains of children." He introduced internal emails, corporate studies and other documents that he said show the companies recognized the risks their products pose to minors yet continued product designs that maximize engagement. Among those documents, Lanier highlighted a Meta study called Project Myst, which surveyed 1,000 teens and their parents; he said the study found that youths experiencing trauma or stress were especially vulnerable to addictive use and that parental controls had limited effect.
FILE - Attendees visit the Meta booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
"They engineered addiction in children's brains," Lanier told jurors, arguing the companies designed features such as like buttons and algorithmic feeds to exploit teenagers' craving for social validation.
Lanier also pointed to internal Google materials that compared some product mechanics to casino tactics and to messages among Meta employees describing Instagram as 'like a drug' and the company as 'basically pushers.'
The Bellwether Plaintiff: 'KGM'
At the center of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified as KGM, one of three bellwether plaintiffs chosen to test legal strategies. Lanier described KGM's early and intensive use of platforms: she began watching YouTube at age 6, started Instagram at 9, and had posted hundreds of YouTube videos before finishing elementary school. KGM briefly appeared in court and is expected to testify later in the trial, where she alleges social-media addiction harmed her mental health.
FILE - The YouTube app is displayed on an iPad in Baltimore on March 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Meta's Defense
Paul Schmidt, representing Meta, centered his opening statement on causation. He urged jurors to examine whether the platforms were a substantial factor in KGM's mental-health struggles and reviewed medical records that, he said, point to emotional abuse, bullying, body-image issues and fraught family relationships. Schmidt played a deposition excerpt of one of KGM's providers, Dr. Thomas Suberman, who said social media was "not the through-line" of her primary issues.
Schmidt acknowledged that some clinicians recognize social-media addiction but noted that several of KGM's providers never formally diagnosed or treated her for such an addiction. He asked jurors to focus on legal causation, not on whether they personally dislike the platforms or think teens spend too much time on phones.
Broader Stakes And Related Cases
The trial — expected to last six to eight weeks — has high stakes: executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, may testify, and observers have drawn comparisons to the Big Tobacco litigation of the 1990s. Separate but related trials are already underway in New Mexico and will begin in federal court in Oakland this summer on behalf of school districts. More than 40 state attorneys general and numerous local governments have filed suits accusing Meta of designing features that addict young users; TikTok and Snap have faced similar litigation, with Snap and TikTok having settled in this Los Angeles case.
Regardless of the outcome, the proceedings could reshape how major platforms design features for minors, how regulators and schools respond to youth mental-health concerns, and whether tech companies face large damages or new restrictions on product design and marketing to children.
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