Los Angeles, California Trial Begins for Meta and Snap in Social Media Addiction Case

Jury selection began on Wednesday in Los Angeles, California in the second trial over claims that social media companies deliberately designed their platforms to addict young users. The Los Angeles Superior Court case puts Meta Platforms and Snap in front of a jury drawn from more than 3,000 consolidated lawsuits.

The two plaintiffs are identified in court papers only by initials. S.J. is a 16 year old girl from Illinois, and K.D.B. is an 18 year old woman from Mississippi. Reuters reported both began using YouTube at age 3 or 4 and other platforms around age 9.

What the plaintiffs claim

The plaintiffs allege that autoplay, infinite scroll and streaks drove them to compulsive use, and that they developed depression, anxiety and eating disorders as a result. Reuters reported both described staying awake for hours scrolling, losing focus in class and self harm using methods shown in social media videos. They sued in 2023, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Emily Jeffcott, attorney for the Mississippi plaintiff, said her side will educate the jury about the dangers of endless feeds, autoplay and streaks.

Settlements narrow the case

Both plaintiffs first sued TikTok and Alphabet's YouTube alongside Meta and Snap, and both settled with TikTok and YouTube ahead of the trial. The Illinois plaintiff also settled with Meta. The trial covers both plaintiffs' claims against Snap and the Mississippi plaintiff's claims against Meta.

Meta and Snap asked Judge Carolyn Kuhl to split the cases into separate trials, arguing a joint trial would unfairly mix the evidence. Reuters reported she had not ruled when the trial began.

What the companies say

A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the claims and has built protections into its platforms for a decade. "A young person's mental health is shaped by many factors, as the evidence in this trial will show," the spokesperson said in a statement carried by Reuters.

A Snap spokesperson said Snapchat does not open to a feed or a ranking of what other people post, unlike traditional social media, and said the company has built safeguards into its platform. "We believe the evidence will support that we have put our community first," the spokesperson said.

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel are expected to testify in a trial expected to run for several weeks. Law.com reported on September 29 that Judge Kuhl rejected Meta's motion to quash their subpoenas, and that Zuckerberg planned to testify on November 10 and Mosseri on November 19.

Why the verdict matters

The Los Angeles cases are bellwether trials, test cases that can influence how the cases behind them are resolved. In the first such trial, decided in March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent and awarded 6 million dollars in damages to a young woman identified in court papers as Kaley G.M. Meta is appealing that verdict.

The companies have argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 federal law that generally protects online platforms from liability over user generated content, shields them from the claims. The trial judge disagreed that Section 230 bars claims over how the sites are designed, and allowed both suits to go to trial.

More than 3,800 further lawsuits are pending in federal court in California. In August, Meta reached settlements worth up to 18 billion dollars, according to Reuters, resolving claims by nearly every US state and territory over the impact of its platforms on teen mental health.