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Young woman testifies social media ‘addiction’ derailed her childhood in Meta, Google trial
A young woman argues in court that Meta and Google design addictive social media platforms
A young woman, involved in a major lawsuit against Meta and Google for what she describes as the addictive quality of social media, has shared with a jury how her adolescent years were overshadowed by her engagement with Instagram and YouTube.
"I withdrew from interacting with my family because I spent all my time immersed in social media," said the woman, referred to as KGM or Kaley to maintain her anonymity.
She testified in the Los Angeles court that she started using YouTube at the tender age of 6 and Instagram at 9, encountering no restrictions despite her young age.
Meta has maintained that Kaley's frequent use of Instagram does not constitute an addiction, arguing that the platform was not responsible for her subsequent mental health issues.
Although the proceedings have mainly concentrated on Instagram and Meta, Google's YouTube is also a target in this legal complaint.
Initially, TikTok and Snapchat were also part of the lawsuit, but they reached settlements just before proceedings were set to commence, with details of those agreements undisclosed.
The outcome of this trial, expected to proceed until mid-March, will serve as the first legal determination regarding the accountability social media companies bear towards their younger audience.
Its implications could impact numerous similar cases filed nationwide by families and state authorities, claiming harm to children incurred online.
Now age 20, Kaley recounted to the court that checking Instagram was the first activity she engaged in upon waking and continued throughout the day until she fell asleep, adversely affecting her academic performance, home life, and mental health.
She admitted to spending endless hours on YouTube, explaining how the platform's "autoplay" function, which starts a new video automatically, kept her hooked.
Kaley expressed feelings of "insecurity" or feeling "unattractive" when her social media posts didn’t receive enough "likes."