A court finds Meta and YouTube guilty of creating addictive social networks
The social networks are being the protagonists of controversies in recent months, not only with access to minors that is being questioned and which has different opinions on the matter, but also because of the issue of addictions. A ruling from a Los Angeles court, where it says that Meta (Instagram) and Google (YouTube) have intentionally created an addictive system for their social networks, which can harm the mental health of users.
A historic verdict: Meta and YouTube declared negligent for addiction to social networks
Specifically, the court has established that Meta and Google acted negligently by not warning users about these dangers of addiction to the use of their platforms. A sentence that has no precedents, and where for the first time it has been possible to bring two of the greats of social networks to trial for this reason.
This verdict has been considered a historic case in the United Statessince it is the first in which a jury concludes that the design and operation of these platforms can be a determining factor in damage to mental health.
3 million dollars in compensation and distribution of responsibility
The trial has established that the plaintiff, KGMwas never warned of these dangers of addiction when she was not yet of legal age. Thus, the court has set compensation of 3 million dollarsconsidering that:
- Meta is responsible for 70% of the damage
- Google by 30%
This compensation includes 2.1 million in damages to be paid by Meta and $900,000 for YouTubewell below the 1 billion dollars that the accusation requested.
More than 1,600 similar cases could follow this precedent
A fact that has been postulated as historical as it has no precedents, and that this is only one of the many cases that may appear. In fact, this trial is part of a set of lawsuits that bring together more than 1,600 affectedincluding families and school districts.
According to the plaintiff lawyers, these companies have been profiting from addictive designsespecially aimed at minors. This ruling could mark a before and after, as it establishes a legal basis for future similar lawsuits throughout the country.
Depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia linked to the use of social networks
The court has considered it proven that the intensive use of social networks caused the plaintiff problems such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- body dysmorphia
The affected person herself stated that the constant use of these platforms directly affected her self-esteem and generated a continuous need to stay connected for fear of missing out on content.
Meta and Google reject the verdict and will appeal
On the other hand, the defendants have alleged that these mental problems of the plaintiff already stemmed from her childhood due to a difficult family situation. In this way, the plaintiff made use of social networks that according to her have caused this discomfort. As expected, Meta and Google have rejected the verdict and they have announced that they will appeal the court decision.
From Meta they have indicated that the Adolescent mental health is a complex problem which cannot be attributed to a single application, while Google claims that YouTube is not a traditional social network and they disagree with the interpretation of the case.
TikTok and Snapchat avoided trial with out-of-court settlements
But not only Meta (with Instagram) and Google (with YouTube) have been sued, they also appeared in this TikTok and Snapchatwho finally opted for extrajudicial agreements before going to trial.
