Social media is on trial in California

A landmark trial kicked off in a Los Angeles courtroom this week, where for the first time a jury will hear claims that social media companies negligently created products that cause harm to children.

Catch up quick: Lawyers for the plaintiff, a 19-year-old Northern California woman identified by the initials KGM, are suing several tech giants in state court over claims that more than a decade of social media use has made KGM addicted and depressed.

• Meta and YouTube are named as defendants in the lawsuit and will face trial, with company leaders—including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg—potentially testifying in the coming weeks.
• Snapchat and TikTok were also named as defendants, but both companies agreed to undisclosed pre-trial settlements before jury selection began on Tuesday.

The arguments

KGM’s lawyers are testing a novel legal theory that social media sites—or certain specific features—are defective products which encourage addictive behavior, similar to cigarettes and opioids, and thus subject to personal injury law.

• They allege that platforms deliberately engineered features that make them nearly impossible for kids to put down, like infinite scroll, auto-play videos, frequent notifications, and recommendation algorithms.
• In some cases, these features have resulted in depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and even suicide, the plaintiff’s lawyers allege.

On the flip side: The tech giants argue there’s no scientifically proven direct link between using social media and mental health problems.

• They also note the safety features for kids rolled out by platforms in recent years, like parental controls, guardrails on contacting teen accounts, and time limits.
• Additionally, social media companies have long maintained protection from legal action under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that exempts platforms from legal liability for content generated by their users.

What’s at stake? The suit is widely seen as a bellwether for thousands of similar lawsuits pending in California. A verdict in favor of KGM could require companies to pay damages or alter their platform designs, and encourage them to settle in those suits, likely for a hefty combined sum.

Looking ahead…The state-level trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. A similar (but separate) federal bellwether trial involving school districts is scheduled to begin this June.