Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube are accused of helping worsen the youth mental health crisis.
Jury selection in a high-stakes social media addiction trial begins in California on Jan. 27, court documents reveal.
The trial will put big tech in the hot seat as defendants including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube are accused of helping worsen the youth mental health crisis.
The hearing in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, is a test case for thousands of other similar lawsuits seeking damages over alleged harms caused by social media.
In this case, a 19-year-old woman from California, identified as K.G.M, alleges that she has been addicted to social media for more than 10 years and that her constant use of the technology has given her depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia.
Starting on Tuesday, 75 potential jurors will be called in each morning and afternoon until at least Jan. 29, court documents reviewed by The Epoch Times show.
In related cases filed across the country, plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and trying to curb how the platforms are used, and they accuse big tech companies of intentionally working to promote addictive use among young people.
“The 29 State [attorneys general] present a unified case: one single presentation of evidence that Meta engaged in nationwide misconduct to design its social media platforms in a manner that harmed the mental and physical health of children across the country, to illegally ensnare under-13 users onto its platforms, and to deceive the public of the true safety risks,” said a joint letter by the state attorneys general filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The attorneys general accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of rescinding a ban on cosmetic surgery filters that permitted users of all ages to have access to features like the “nip and tuck” plastic surgery effect filter.
Zuckerberg denied a link between social media and negative mental health outcomes among young people during a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing.
Google spokesperson José Castaneda previously denied such allegations in the complaints.
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” Castaneda told The Epoch Times in an email when a court ruled a related case could press forward in October 2024.
By Jacki Thrapp
