Did TikTok, YouTube and Meta consciously addict young people? This process can be a game changer
On Tuesday, January 27, a trial began in California that may change the face of social media in the United States and around the world. Lawyers hope that the “KGM case” will have a similar effect to the trials of tobacco companies from several decades ago.
The 19-year-old, identified only by her initials “KGM,” and her mother, Karen Glenn, are suing TikTok, Meta and Google-owned YouTube. They accuse the companies of knowingly creating addictive mechanisms that harmed mental health and led to self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Snap was excluded from the trial and decided to enter into a settlement.
Social media in court. A breakthrough process is starting
Parents, lawyers, health experts, technology industry whistleblowers and young people themselves have been concerned for years that social media attracts young people to mindless, hours-long scrolling, enables psychological abuse of users, negatively affects sleep and leads young viewers to endless streams of harmful content. There have been many well-known examples where a small child left in front of a screen after some time no longer watches innocent cartoons, but only bloody or otherwise inappropriate materials.
So far, representatives of technology companies have appeared before the US Congress several times to respond to various types of allegations. They even apologized to parents whose children died or were harmed through guilt or social media. However, in the long term, these companies did not suffer any serious consequences and did not change their operating model.
The KGM case may bring serious financial consequences for technology giants. Its result will affect over a thousand similar lawsuits brought by private individuals against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube. Executives from these companies will likely appear in court in Los Angeles to testify as witnesses. The trial is expected to last several weeks, and damages could total in the billions of dollars.
Tech giants accused of deliberately addicting children and failing to protect them
In recent years, TikTok, Meta, YouTube and Snap have introduced safety policies and parental control tools to protect young users. In many cases, however, it was emphasized that this was not enough for such wealthy and powerful concerns. Attention was drawn to the lack of mechanisms or sufficient staff delegated to respond to cases of abuse.
“For parents whose children have been exploited, seduced or died because of these platforms, the next six weeks will be the first step towards being held accountable for years of being ignored,” said Sarah Gardner, head of the Heat Initiative. It is a non-profit organization that focuses on children’s online safety.
– For our generation, these are processes like those with tobacco companies years ago. For the first time, families from all over the country will hear directly from the CEOs of technology companies about how they deliberately designed their products to make our children addictive, she added.
KGM is a California teenager who started using social media at the age of 10, even though her mother tried to block the platforms using third-party software. “The defendants designed their products to enable children to bypass parental controls,” the indictment reads. Due to its “addictive design”, KGM quickly became so addicted that it compulsively used social media.
From the indictment we learn that the minor girl established contacts with adults who were complete strangers to her. This group also included people who were called “persecutors”. Instagram and TikTok were also accused of intentionally providing KGM with “depressing” materials and leading to “socially harmful body comparisons.” On Instagram, the girl was allegedly harassed and blackmailed using sexual materials.
