Jury hears that Meta, Google ‘engineered addiction’ at landmark US trial

LOS ANGELES: Meta and Google-owned YouTube were accused on Monday (Feb 9) of pushing highly addictive apps on children as a landmark social media trial began in earnest in a California court.

The blockbuster trial in front of a Los Angeles jury could establish a legal precedent on whether the social media juggernauts deliberately designed their platforms to lead to addiction in children.

The proceedings are expected to see Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on the stand next week and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri in the courtroom as early as Wednesday. Besides Instagram, Meta’s platforms include Facebook and WhatsApp.

“This case is about two of the richest corporations in history who have engineered addiction in children’s brains,” plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier told the jury in his opening statement.

“This case is as easy as A-B-C,” Lanier said as he stacked children’s toy blocks bearing the letters.

He contended the A was for addicting, the B for brains and the C for children.

“They don’t only build apps; they build traps,” Lanier said, saying Meta and YouTube pursued “addiction by design,” making his arguments using props like a toy Ferrari and a mini slot machine.

Meta attorney Paul Schmidt countered in opening remarks to the jury that evidence will show problems with the plaintiff’s family and real-world bullying took a toll on her self-esteem, body image and happiness rather than Instagram.

“If you took Instagram away and everything else was the same in Kaley’s life, would her life be completely different, or would she still be struggling with the same things she is today?” Schmidt asked, pointing out that an Instagram addiction is never mentioned in medical records included in the evidence.

The trial before Judge Carolyn Kuhl focuses on allegations that a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley GM suffered severe mental harm because she became addicted to social media as a child.