Jury deliberations begin in teen's social media addiction trial
A Los Angeles jury is considering whether Meta (Instagram) and YouTube should be held responsible for a 20-year-old woman's alleged social media addiction.
This is the first trial in a California coordinated proceeding involving approximately 1,600 plaintiffs, a mix of individual youth and family claims and school-district claims.
Jury talks started March 13 and picked up again Monday, March 23.
Details of the case
The plaintiff, Kaley G.M., shared that she began using YouTube around six years old and created an Instagram account around nine years old, sometimes up to 16 hours a day, which she says led to anxiety, depression, body image issues, bullying, and even sextortion.
She testified that features such as infinite scroll and beauty filters felt designed to keep users engaged.
Meta and YouTube argue they are not at fault, saying family problems and preexisting mental health challenges played a bigger role.
The outcome could set the tone for thousands of similar cases about how social media affects young users.