Companies are running nationwide safety campaigns while defending themselves in court.
Three of the world’s biggest social media companies will face a jury this week as they defend allegations that their platforms have contributed to mental health problems among young users, marking the first time such claims will be tested in a courtroom.
The trial opens in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County, where a 19-year-old California woman known as K.G.M. has brought claims against Meta Platforms, TikTok and YouTube.
Court documents show she argues the companies built their platforms with features designed to capture attention, which she says led to addictive use starting when she was young. The woman claims this use contributed to depression and thoughts of suicide.
First test of legal claims against platforms
According to Matthew Bergman, the lawyer representing K.G.M., this marks the first time these technology companies will have to answer for alleged harms in court. “They will be under a level of scrutiny that does not exist when you testify in front of Congress,” Bergman told Reuters.
The case is one of multiple lawsuits expected to reach trial this year involving what lawyers are calling addiction to social media among children.
The jury hearing the case will weigh whether the companies acted carelessly in offering products that damaged K.G.M.’s mental wellbeing. Jurors must also consider whether her platform use played a major role in her depression, or whether other factors, such as content created by third parties that she saw on the apps, or circumstances in her offline life, were more significant causes.
Clay Calvert, who works as a media lawyer at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank that generally supports business interests, described the proceedings as “really a test case.” He said the trial will reveal how legal theories holding social media platforms responsible for user harm hold up in court.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear as a witness. Lawyers for Meta told Reuters before the trial that the company plans to argue its products were not responsible for K.G.M.’s mental health struggles.
Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel had also been expected to testify, as Snap was named in the lawsuit, but the company reached a settlement agreement with K.G.M. on January 20. A Snap representative would not discuss details of the settlement.
YouTube plans to tell the court that its platform operates differently from social networks like Instagram and TikTok, and should not be grouped with them, according to a YouTube executive speaking ahead of the trial. TikTok did not provide information about its courtroom strategy.
Companies launch public outreach efforts
While preparing for trial, these same companies have been working across the country to persuade doubters that their platforms are appropriate for teenagers. They have rolled out tools they describe as giving parents greater oversight of their children’s platform use, and have put millions into promoting these features.
Meta has been running workshops for parents focused on teen safety online at high schools throughout the United States since at least 2018. In 2024, the company held one such workshop called Screen Smart in Los Angeles. National PTA President Yvonne Johnson and Meta’s safety chief Antigone Davis participated. National PTA is a nonprofit organization focused on child welfare.
TikTok has backed similar events through partnerships with 100 local and regional PTA groups under the name Create with Kindness, according to information on the company’s website. The program offered instruction on TikTok features for parents, including ways to restrict nighttime screen use, based on the program’s curriculum.
Google, which owns YouTube, has worked with Girl Scouts in recent years as part of its public messaging about protecting children online. Girls can receive a patch displaying Google’s logo for their uniform after finishing lessons covering topics like creating secure passwords, treating others well online, and understanding digital privacy, per the Girl Scouts website.
The companies have also brought on legal teams with experience defending corporations in major cases involving addiction. Meta retained lawyers from Covington & Burling who previously represented McKesson in widespread litigation connected to the opioid crisis, according to publicly available attorney biographies. TikTok’s legal team includes lawyers who represented Activision Blizzard and Microsoft in arguments about video game design and addiction.
Julie Scelfo, who started Mothers Against Media Addiction, a group backing smartphone restrictions in schools, said the companies are deploying extensive influence campaigns. “These companies are using every lever of influence that you can imagine,” she said. “It can be very confusing for parents who to trust.”
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