{"id":159333,"date":"2026-02-01T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/159333\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:32:09","slug":"social-media-addiction-knowingly-inflicted-on-kids-lawsuit-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/159333\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media addiction knowingly inflicted on kids, lawsuit says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"social<\/a>The study, published this week in JAMA Pediatrics, draws on data across age groups, countries, content types and platforms and is the first large-scale effort linking social media content to tobacco use. (File photo\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

The Meta researcher\u2019s tone was alarmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201coh my gosh yall IG is a drug,\u201d the user experience specialist allegedly wrote to a colleague, referring to the social media platform Instagram. \u201cWe\u2019re basically pushers\u2026 We are causing Reward Deficit Disorder bc people are binging on IG so much they can\u2019t feel reward anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The researcher concluded that users\u2019 addiction was \u201cbiological and psychological\u201d and that company management was keen to exploit the dynamic. \u201cThe top down directives drive it all towards making sure people keep coming back for more,\u201d the researcher added.<\/p>\n

The conversation was included recently as part of a long-simmering lawsuit in a California-based federal court. Condensing complaints from hundreds of school districts and state attorneys general, including California\u2019s, the suit alleges that social media companies knew about risks to children and teens but pushed ahead with marketing their products to them, putting profits above kids\u2019 mental health. The suit seeks monetary damages and changes to companies\u2019 business practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The suit, and a similar one filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, targets Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap. The cases are exposing embarrassing internal conversations and findings at the companies, particularly Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, further tarnishing their brands in the public eye. They are also testing a particular vector of attack against the platforms, one that targets not so much alarming content as design and marketing decisions that accelerated harms. The upshot, some believe, could be new forms of regulation, including at the federal level.<\/p>\n

One document discussed during a hearing this week included a 2016 email from Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook\u2019s live videos feature. In the email, the Meta chief wrote, \u201cwe\u2019ll need to be very good about not notifying parents \/ teachers\u201d about teens\u2019 videos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we tell teens\u2019 parents about their live videos, that will probably ruin the product from the start,\u201d he wrote, according to the email.<\/p>\n

In slides summarizing internal tech company documents, released this week as part of the litigation, an internal YouTube discussion suggested that accounts from minors in violation of YouTube policies were actively on the platform for years, producing content an average of \u201c938 days before detection \u2014 giving them plenty of time to create content and continue putting themselves and the platform at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Meta didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A YouTube spokesperson, Jos\u00e9 Casta\u00f1eda, described the slide released this week as \u201ca cherry-picked view of a much larger safety framework\u201d and said the company uses more than one tool to detect underage accounts, while taking action every time it finds an underage account.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In court, the companies have argued that they are making editorial decisions permitted by the First Amendment,. That trial is set for June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state court litigation moved into jury selection this week, increasing the pressure on social media companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the state and federal cases differ slightly, the core argument is the same: that social media companies deliberately designed their products to hook young people, leading to disastrous but foreseeable consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s led to mental health issues, serious anxiety, depression, for many. For some, eating disorders, suicidality,\u201d said Previn Warren, co-lead counsel on the case in federal court. \u201cFor the schools, it\u2019s been lost control over the educational environment, inability of teachers to really control their classrooms and teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

A federal suit<\/p>\n

Meta and other companies have faced backlash for years over their treatment of kids on their platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Parents, lawmakers and privacy advocates have argued that social media contributed to a mental health crisis among young people and that tech companies failed to act when that fact became clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those allegations gained new scrutiny last month when a brief citing still-sealed documents in the federal suit became public.<\/p>\n

While the suit also names TikTok, Snap, and Google as defendants, the filing includes allegations against Meta that are especially detailed.<\/p>\n

In the more than 200-page filing, for example, the plaintiffs argue that Meta deliberately misled the public about how damaging their platforms were.<\/p>\n

Warren pointed to claims in the brief that Meta researchers found that 55% of Facebook users had \u201cmild\u201d problematic use of the platform, while 3.1 percent had \u201csevere\u201d problems. Zuckerberg, according to the brief, pointed out that 3% of billions would still be millions of people.<\/p>\n

But the brief claims the company published research noting only that \u201cwe estimate (as an upper bound) that 3.1% of Facebook users in the US experience problematic use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lie,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

In response to recent interest in the suits, Meta published\u00a0a blog post<\/a>\u00a0this month arguing that the litigation \u201coversimplifies\u201d the issue of youth mental health, and pointed to past instances where it has worked with parents and families with features to protect kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The federal case faced a key hearing this week, as the defendants argued that a judge should summarily dismiss the case.\u00a0 A decision on that motion is likely coming in the next few weeks, Warren said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Social media companies, like other web-based services, receive protection from some legal claims under a part of federal law. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives legal immunity to website operators for potentially illegal content on their platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mary Anne Franks, a legal scholar in First Amendment issues at George Washington University who has long studied Section 230, said rather than online content in and of itself, the recent social media cases are focusing on the design of the platforms and their marketing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe litigation strategy is saying it\u2019s\u00a0the way\u00a0that you\u2019re providing that space and you\u2019re pushing this toward individuals that are vulnerable that is really an issue here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s your own conduct, not somebody else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The companies are making key decisions behind the scenes, she said, and could be held responsible for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were manipulating things,\u201d she said the plaintiffs are arguing. \u201cYou were deliberately making choices about what comes to the top or what is directly accessible or may be tempting to vulnerable users.\u201d<\/p>\n

A California state trial begins<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the related state lawsuit went to jury selection this week.<\/p>\n

The case, which makes similar claims about personal injury caused by the social media companies, has also drawn nationwide attention, and major industry figures like Zuckerberg are expected to appear on the stand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The personal injury case focuses on an unnamed plaintiff who claims to have had her mental health damaged by an addiction to social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a last-minute development this week, TikTok and Snap\u00a0reportedly reached undisclosed settlements<\/a>\u00a0in the case. Meta and Google are continuing as defendants.<\/p>\n

Franks said these trials could be a tipping point in regulating how tech companies design and market their products. While the companies have faced scrutiny in the past, she said, the glare of examination at trial could be especially bright.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been talk of it and the members of Congress have kind of said, \u2018maybe we\u2019ll regulate you,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI think now the platforms are really getting nervous about what this is going to mean if they look really bad on the stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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