Overview
- A Los Angeles jury began hearing a civil case accusing Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube of using design features that addict children and damage their mental health, after TikTok and Snap reached undisclosed settlements.
- The lead Los Angeles case centers on a young woman identified as KGM, who says years of use from childhood led to addiction, depression and suicidal thoughts tied to platform design choices.
- Jury selection in Los Angeles exposed polarized views of Mark Zuckerberg, while Meta and Google deny wrongdoing and point to safety tools and complex, multifactorial mental-health factors.
- A separate New Mexico trial launched by Attorney General Raúl Torrez alleges Meta’s platforms created a fertile ground for sexual predators, drawing on undercover accounts that documented solicitations and platform responses.
- The New Mexico judge allowed presentation of explicit material over Meta’s objections, as both trials test legal theories that could influence Section 230 defenses and shape hundreds of related cases, with executives including Zuckerberg expected to be called in proceedings projected to last weeks.