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Landmark case on social media's impact on mental health in US court now: Why a 20-yr-old has sued Insta, YT, FB, others
The case involves a 20-year-old woman who alleged that Instagram and YouTube's addictive designs caused her depression and suicidal thoughts.
A California state court is set to begin hearing a case on Monday over whether Instagram and YouTube harmed a woman's mental health through addictive app design. A 20-year-old woman filed a lawsuit against the parent company of key social media applications like Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet's Google, which owns YouTube, Reuters reported.
According to court filings, she claimed that the attention-grabbing design of the platforms got her addicted to them at a young age, and that the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts, which led her to seek to hold the companies liable. Her lawyers aim to show that the companies were negligent in their design of the apps, that they failed to warn the public about the risks, and that the platforms were a substantial factor in her injuries.
If she wins the case, the jury will consider whether to award her damages for pain and suffering, and could also impose punitive damages on the companies.
The accused companies are likely to defend themselves by pointing to other factors in her life, laying out their work on youth safety, and trying to distance themselves from users who upload harmful content.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be called as a potential witness which is likely to continue till March. TikTok and Snap settled with her before the trial.
Big test for Big Tech
The case will pronounce the ruling in a test of whether Big Tech platforms can be held liable for harming kids.
The verdict could also smoothen the way for similar cases in state court, and shake the industry's longstanding U.S. legal defense against claims of user harm.
Google, Meta, TikTok and Snap face thousands of lawsuits in California.
Similar to her claims, the companies face nearly 2,300 similar lawsuits filed by parents, school districts and state attorneys general in federal court. Under the law of United States, the internet companies are largely shielded from liability for material their users post. If the jury in this case rejects that defense, it could pave the way for other lawsuits claiming the platforms are harmful by design.
