{"id":2554398,"date":"2026-01-27T16:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/social-media-companies-face-first-trial-over-addiction-to-their-platforms\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T16:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:42:36","slug":"social-media-companies-face-first-trial-over-addiction-to-their-platforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/social-media-companies-face-first-trial-over-addiction-to-their-platforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media companies face first trial over addiction to their platforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsocial-media-companies-face-first-trial-over-addiction-to-their-platforms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2554398&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A landmark Los angeles trial this <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >week accuses major <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting ... Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platforms<\/a><\/a> of being deliberately designed to foster addictive use and cause mental-health harm to a 19-year-old plaintiff identified as K.G.M.Meta (Instagram\/Facebook) and YouTube remain on trial for potential damages after Snap and TikTok reached undisclosed settlements just before proceedings began. The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff\u2019s addiction lead to depression and suicidal thoughts and points to features like infinite scroll and autoplay as tools engineered to maximize youth engagement and advertising revenue. The companies deny the claims and have invoked Section 230 immunity, but a judge declined motions to dismiss, allowing the case to move forward.Plaintiff attorneys liken the litigation to the 1990s tobacco suits, and public-health figures\u2014including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy\u2014have urged warning labels about social media\u2019s risks to adolescents. Observers view the outcome as a potential roadmap for similar lawsuits nationwide, alongside other related cases such as an Iowa attorney-general suit against TikTok.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Social media companies face first trial over addiction to their platforms<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2485938\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Multiple <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-media\/\">social media<\/a> platforms face a first-of-its-kind trial in a Los Angeles <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/courts\/\">court<\/a> this week, facing accusations that their platforms are designed to be harmfully addictive.<\/p>\n<p>The landmark case centers around claims from a 19-year old, identified only as K.G.M. in the lawsuit, who claims she became addicted to the social media platforms, which eventually led her to have depression and suicidal thoughts. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/meta\/\">Meta<\/a>, owner of Instagram and Facebook; Snap, owners of Snapchat; TikTok, and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/youtube\/\">YouTube<\/a> were initially slated to be on trial, but settlements with Snap and TikTok were announced for undisclosed amounts just before trial, leaving only Meta and YouTube up for potential damages in this case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4435626\/america-250-state-celebrations-virginia-pennsylvania-new-york\/\">Which states are having the biggest America 250 celebrations?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4435528\/mike-lee-netflix-warner-bros-merger\/\">Trump ally Mike Lee rails against Netflix-Warner Bros. merger<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4434934\/joe-concha-gavin-newsom-doesnt-have-record-to-work-on-2028-election\/\">Joe Concha says Gavin Newsom &lsquo;doesn&rsquo;t have a record to work on&rsquo; ahead of 2028<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Social media platforms and their addictive qualities have been increasingly under the microscope for the past decade, with the heads of social media companies testifying before Congress and platforms making adjustments for younger users. In June 2024, then-President Joe Biden&rsquo;s Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3047146\/surgeon-general-calls-warning-label-social-media\/\">called<\/a> for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/our-childrens-well-being-is-at-stake-surgeon-generals-smart-call-for-social-media-warning-labels\/\" title=\"Protecting Our Kids: Surgeon General Advocates for Warning Labels on Social Media\">social media warning label<\/a> to state that &ldquo;social media is associated with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/surgeon-general-calls-for-warning-label-on-social-media-for-young-people\/\" title=\"Surgeon General Advocates for Warning Labels on Social Media for Youth\">significant mental health harms<\/a> for adolescents.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit in the Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County comes nearly four years after the claims were initially filed and after Judge Carolyn Kuhl <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/social-media-lawsuits-kgm-motion-denied.pdf\">denied<\/a> bids by the social media companies to summarily toss the claims in November.<\/p>\n<p>Both YouTube and Meta have strongly denied the claims that their platforms are designed to be addictive. The companies have also argued that Section 230, a federal statute that generally protects online platforms from being held liable for content posted by users, shields them from the claims brought by K.G.M.<\/p>\n<p>The claims of immunity under Section 230 have not been enough to shield the social media platforms so far, while lawyers supporting K.G.M. have claimed the statute has been abused by social media companies looking to avoid liability. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Section 230 has been liberally construed far beyond its language or intent, and until recently had been seen as a veritable carte blanche for social media companies to operate with complete immunity,&rdquo; Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney at the Social Media Victims Law Center, said about the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>The arguments pushed by K.G.M.&rsquo;s lawyers in the lawsuit is that the platforms themselves were designed to be addictive, pointing to features including infinite scroll and autoplay.<\/p>\n<p>The case in Los Angeles is widely viewed as a sign of where future lawsuits over social media addiction could go across the country. Lawyers for the teenage plaintiff made comparisons to the high-profile lawsuits against tobacco companies in the 1990s over their advertising, particularly to young people, which led to significant restrictions on how those products may be marketed.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4433341\/federal-judge-skeptical-of-minnesota-plea-court-end-sweeping-dhs-operation\/\">FEDERAL JUDGE SKEPTICAL OF MINNESOTA&rsquo;S PLEA FOR COURT TO END SWEEPING DHS OPERATION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,&rdquo; the lawsuit said, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/social-media-trial-kids-addiction-meta-tiktok-youtube-d3a6bf617f2d11521675412ffb275031\">per<\/a> the <em>Associated Press<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Jury selection in the social media addiction trial comes less than a week after the Iowa Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit, filed by the state&rsquo;s attorney general, to proceed against TikTok. That lawsuit alleges the social media platform misrepresented the amount of inappropriate videos it showed children, in violation of the state&rsquo;s Consumer Fraud Act.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>L.A. trial: social apps accused of addiction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2554399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26023845668963.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[72039,4585,35390,32364,48419],"class_list":["post-2554398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-addiction-2","tag-lawsuit","tag-mental-health","tag-social-media","tag-tech-regulation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26023845668963.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2554398"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2554402,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554398\/revisions\/2554402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2554399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2554398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2554398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2554398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}