Meta, TikTok and YouTube to go on trial as parents allege harm to children

The trial against the social media tech giants is expected to include testimony from senior executives, including Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg

Tech giants Meta, TikTok and YouTube are set to face a landmark trial over allegations that their platforms harm the mental health of children and teenagers, marking the first time the companies will argue such claims before a jury.

 

The proceedings are set to begin in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles County, with jury selection expected to continue for several days. According to a report by The Guardian, citing officials, around 75 potential jurors are expected to be questioned each day through at least Thursday.

 

The trial is expected to include testimony from senior executives, including Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

 

 

The case forms part of a long-awaited series of lawsuits in which hundreds of US families alleged that platforms operated by Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube caused harm to children. The plaintiffs claimed that once young users became dependent on the platforms, they experienced depression, eating disorders, self-harm and other mental health issues.

 

An Associated Press report, citing court filings, said the proceedings involved about 1,600 plaintiffs, including more than 350 families and 250 school districts.

Bellwether trials and claims of addictive platform design

At the centre of the trial is a 19-year-old woman identified only by the initials “KGM,” the AP report said. Her case, along with two others, was selected as a bellwether trial, intended to test how juries assess liability and damages in similar lawsuits, it added.

 

According to the report, Clay Calvert, a non-resident senior fellow of Technology Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said the cases would allow both sides to assess how their arguments perform before a jury.

 

KGM alleged that prolonged use of social media from an early age led to addiction and worsened depression and suicidal thoughts. The lawsuit claimed the companies made deliberate design choices to increase engagement among children to boost advertising revenue, it said.

 

The plaintiffs argued that such claims could bypass protections under the First Amendment and Section 230, which generally shields technology companies from liability for third-party content.

 

“Borrowing heavily from the behavioural and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximising youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit said, as reported by AP.

 

Legal observers drew comparisons with litigation against tobacco companies that culminated in a 1998 settlement requiring restrictions on marketing to minors, news agency Reuters reported.

 

“Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products,” the lawsuit said, according to Reuters. “They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”

Companies reject allegations

The companies denied the claims, saying their platforms did not deliberately harm children and that safeguards had been introduced over time.

 

In a blog post, Meta said: “Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies.”

 

“But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being are not clear-cut or universal,” the company said, adding that academic pressure, school safety, economic challenges and substance abuse also played a role.

 

According to a report by the Associated Press, a Meta spokesperson said on Monday that the company strongly disagreed with the allegations and was “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people”.

 

Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, said on Monday that the allegations against YouTube were “simply not true”, AP reported. In a statement cited by AP, he said, “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.”

More cases ahead

The Los Angeles trial would be the first in a series of cases expected this year. A federal bellwether trial scheduled for June in Oakland, California, will represent school districts that sued social media companies over alleged harm to children.

 

According to the AP report, more than 40 US state attorneys general have also filed lawsuits against Meta, alleging that features on Instagram and Facebook harmed young users.

 

TikTok faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states, the report said.