Overview
- Plaintiff K.G.M., a 20-year-old, alleges early use of Instagram and YouTube led to addiction, depression and suicidal thoughts, in the first jury test of design-focused claims.
- Plaintiffs opened by citing internal documents, including Meta’s “Project Myst” and Google memos likening products to casinos, to argue features like infinite scroll, autoplay and notifications were built to hook minors.
- Meta’s counsel countered that the plaintiff’s struggles stem from family and personal factors rather than app design, while YouTube called the allegations untrue and highlighted youth safety tools.
- The multiweek trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, with executives including Mark Zuckerberg anticipated to testify, and its outcome could influence thousands of related lawsuits nationwide.
- TikTok and Snap settled before jury selection, and separate proceedings this week in New Mexico target Meta over alleged failures to prevent sexual exploitation of young users.