Meta, TikTok, YouTube to stand trial on youth addiction claims

By Courtney Rozen

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms, TikTok and YouTube volition look courtroom scrutiny this week implicit allegations that their platforms are fueling a younker intelligence wellness crisis, arsenic the nationalist statement astir kids’ surface clip enters a caller phase.

The bellwether proceedings successful California Superior Court, Los Angeles ​County involves a 19-year-old pistillate from California, identified arsenic K.G.M., who says she became addicted to the companies’ platforms astatine a young property due to the fact that of ‌their attention-grabbing design, according to tribunal filings. She alleges the apps fueled her slump and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to clasp the companies liable.

Her suit is the archetypal of respective cases expected to spell to ‌trial this twelvemonth that halfway connected what the plaintiffs telephone “social media addiction” among children. It volition beryllium the archetypal clip the tech giants indispensable support themselves astatine proceedings implicit alleged harm caused by their products, the plaintiff's lawyer Matthew Bergman said. “They volition beryllium nether a level of scrutiny that does not beryllium erstwhile you attest successful beforehand of Congress,” helium told Reuters.

The assemblage volition determine whether the companies were negligent successful providing products that harmed K.G.M.’s intelligence health, and if her usage of the apps was a important origin successful her depression, compared ⁠with different causes specified arsenic the third-party contented she viewed ‌on the apps oregon aspects of her beingness offline.

"This is truly a trial case,” said Clay Calvert, a media lawyer astatine the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business deliberation tank. “We're going to spot what happens with these theories” that the societal media platforms caused the plaintiff harm.

Mark ‍Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is expected to instrumentality the witnesser stand. The institution volition reason successful tribunal that its products did not pb to K.G.M.'s intelligence wellness challenges, Meta's lawyers told Reuters up of the trial. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was besides expected to testify, arsenic his institution was named a suspect successful the lawsuit. Snap agreed connected January 20 to settee K.G.M.’s lawsuit. A institution ​spokesperson declined to remark connected the specifics of the deal.

YouTube volition reason that the company's platforms are fundamentally antithetic from societal media platforms specified arsenic Instagram and TikTok, ‌and should not beryllium lumped unneurotic successful court, a YouTube enforcement said up of the trial.

TikTok declined to remark astir the company's planned arguments successful court.

SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION

As the proceedings begins, the aforesaid tech companies are mounting a nationwide effort to person critics that their products are harmless for teens. They've launched tools they accidental springiness parents much power implicit however their kids usage the platforms and person spent millions of dollars promoting those features.