As social media addiction lawsuits expand, families and school districts warn of lasting harm to youth mental health, including Latino students
Several trials are marking a social and legal milestone in U.S. history. For the first time, a judge has put the major tech companies that own social media platforms on the bench to determine whether they create addiction among young people, whether they are as dangerous as the tobacco industry, and whether they require far more comprehensive regulation.
Families of children addicted to social media and youth organizations have decided to take legal action. As a result, Meta (owner of WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads), TikTok, Snap (parent company of Snapchat), and YouTube (owned by Google) will face several lawsuits throughout this year.
The first of at least a dozen trials scheduled to take place in Los Angeles began on Tuesday. It is estimated that there are more than 2,500 cases, at both the state and federal levels, involving families, associations, and school districts concerned about children’s mental health. Nine more trials are expected this year based on individual complaints, and a tenth involves an entire school district, Oakland (near San Francisco), as the plaintiff. According to the plaintiffs, social media is a public problem that imposes a massive burden — social, educational, and economic — when it comes to addressing youth addiction. And they have decided to take the matter to court.
The young Californian K. G. M. (known only by his initials), now 20 years old, is the first of these plaintiffs and the one many are watching closely. Her case is that of a girl as ordinary as so many others: she watched YouTube videos from the age of six and began uploading content at eight, joined Instagram at nine (when she got her first iPhone), TikTok (then Musical.ly) at 10, and Snapchat at 11. Today, she has gone through depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia issues. Her lawyers argue that beauty filters, the algorithm, autoplay videos that start without pressing Play, and many other elements of the refined design of these apps — created to keep users scrolling for hours and which, they claim, lead to bullying, sexual harassment, and even suicide — were decisive in creating a social media addiction that resulted in serious problems.
“I wish I never downloaded it,” K. G. M. once told her sister about Instagram, according to the lawsuit. The same sister recounts that if their mother tried to take K.’s phone away, she would have an emotional breakdown from not being able to access Instagram during that time, “like someone had died,” she recalled.
“There became a point where she was so addicted that I couldn’t get the phone out of her hand,” her mother said. “I believe that social media, her addiction to social media has changed the way her brain works,” she added. “She has no long-term memory. She can’t live without a phone. She is willing to go to battle if you were even to touch her phone.”
The family is now demanding financial compensation — the amount has not been disclosed — as well as changes and a public apology from the creators and owners of the apps.
