Is social media responsible for what happens to users? - Harvard Gazette

"A Los Angeles jury will decide whether Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube are addictive and causing harm to teenagers and children - and whether they can be held responsible for it. The lawsuit involves a 20-year-old California woman who says her compulsive use of Instagram and YouTube since childhood resulted in mental health struggles. She argues the platforms are intentionally designed to be addictive in order to boost user engagement."

"A 1996 law protects online platforms from liability from content posted by users. Meta and Google have denied that their popular services pose mental health dangers to young people. But a growing body of research, along with real-life observations of parents and teachers, suggests otherwise."

"This is a case that initially was against Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat. It's currently against Meta and Google; Snapchat and TikTok settled out of court. It's a so-called bellwether trial. There are about 1,600 cases that are in multidistrict litigation, which is a procedure for consolidating cases for some parts of the adjudication process."

A landmark lawsuit in Los Angeles examines whether Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube are deliberately designed to be addictive and harmful to children and teenagers. A 20-year-old California woman claims her compulsive use of these platforms since childhood caused mental health struggles. The case challenges the 1996 law that protects online platforms from liability for user-generated content. While Meta and Google deny their services pose mental health dangers, growing research and observations from parents and teachers suggest otherwise. This bellwether trial represents the first of approximately two dozen cases consolidated in multidistrict litigation involving roughly 1,600 plaintiffs, potentially reshaping how tech companies are held accountable for platform design and its effects on young users.

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