Meta Platforms, TikTok and YouTube will face courtroom scrutiny this week over allegations their platforms are fuelling a youth mental health crisis as the national debate about childrens’ screen time enters a new phase. The bellwether trial in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County involves a 19-year-old woman from California, identified as KGM, who claimed she became addicted to the companies’ platforms at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design, according to court filings. She alleged the apps fuelled her depression and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to hold the companies liable.
The jury will decide whether the companies were negligent in providing products that harmed KGM’s mental health, and if her use of the apps was a substantial factor in her depression, compared with other causes such as the third-party content she viewed on the apps or aspects of her life offline. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is expected to take the witness stand. The company will argue in court its products did not lead to KGM’s mental health challenges, Meta’s lawyers told Reuters ahead of the trial.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also expected to testify as his company was named a defendant in the lawsuit. Snap agreed on January 20 to settle KGM’s lawsuit. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the deal.
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TikTok declined to comment about the company’s planned arguments in court. YouTube’s parent company Google in recent years has turned to Girl Scouts to convince the public it is invested in childrens’ online safety. Girls can earn a patch, which featuresGoogle’s logo, to affix to their uniform after completing lessons about strong passwords, being kind online and digital privacy, according to the Girl Scouts website.
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