A 20-year-old woman is suing major social media companies, claiming their platforms are designed to keep users hooked and caused her long-term mental health problems after she started using them as a child.
The lawsuit was filed by Kaley G.M.. It targets Meta and YouTube, as well as TikTok and Snapchat.
The case is being heard in Los Angeles. The plaintiff says the companies built features meant to make people spend more time on their apps.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in court. He said there is no clear proof that social media alone causes mental health problems.
“There is no conclusive evidence that social media alone causes mental health challenges,” Zuckerberg said. He also said Meta now focuses less on how long users stay on the platform and more on how useful the service is to users.
Zuckerberg also defended Meta’s rule that blocks users under 13 from accessing its platforms.
The plaintiff’s lawyers questioned the safety of Instagram filters. They cited concerns raised by 18 outside experts about the possible effect of beauty filters on young users’ body image.
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Josh Golin of Fairplay criticised Zuckerberg’s testimony.
“Under oath, Meta’s CEO said the company does not aim to increase time spent on Instagram. But internal decisions kept features like visible like counts and beauty filters, which are naturally addictive,” Golin said.
Lawyers for the plaintiff argue that endless scrolling feeds, autoplay videos and social validation features were built to keep users online longer, especially younger users.
Meta’s defence team pointed to the plaintiff’s medical and family background. Records showed she experienced verbal and physical abuse and went through a difficult parental divorce when she was three.
The defence also said the plaintiff did not always use safety tools available on YouTube, such as comment filters and screen-time controls.
Court records showed her average use of YouTube Shorts was about 1 minute 14 seconds per day. Her total video streaming time averaged about 29 minutes daily over the past five years.
The trial will continue with the plaintiff’s testimony, where she will explain how childhood use of social media affected her mental health.
Growing scrutiny of social media platforms worldwide has added pressure on tech companies over online safety and content moderation. This comes as Russia launched a terrorism-related probe linked to Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, highlighting the mounting regulatory attention facing major social media services.