Meta, YouTube Trial Begins on Addictive Platform Design

A landmark trial accusing Meta and Alphabet's YouTube of designing addictive social media platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health began Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified in court filings as K.G.M., alleges that features on Instagram and YouTube fueled her addiction starting in childhood, contributing to depression, body dysmorphia, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

In opening statements, K.G.M.'s lawyer, Mark Lanier, described the case as straightforward, stacking wooden blocks labeled A, B and C to represent "addicting brains of children." He argued that the companies intentionally engineered their platforms to exploit developing brains for profit, citing internal documents. One Google memo from the early 2010s reportedly stated that the goal was "viewer addiction," while a 2018 Meta document suggested targeting tweens to win over teens. Lanier highlighted design elements such as infinite scroll, autoplay videos and notifications that deliver constant social validation, likening them to mechanisms in casinos that encourage compulsive use. "They didn't just build apps, they built traps," he told the jury, emphasizing...