In the United States, thousands of lawsuits claiming the addictive nature of social media (SNS) and its negative effects on teenagers have been filed and are awaiting trial.
On the 21st (local time), Bloomberg News reported that, starting a little over three years ago, lawsuits filed across the United States against Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok, Snap's Snapchat, and Google Alphabet's YouTube prompted the companies to ask courts to dismiss the cases on the grounds of liability shields, but most of those requests were not accepted. Bloomberg said courts in each jurisdiction are preparing for full-fledged proceedings.
To streamline pretrial discovery, the courts consolidated about 4,000 lawsuits into two major cases under multidistrict litigation procedures. The first of these trials is set to begin in late January next year at the Los Angeles (LA) Superior Court. Several cases not consolidated under that jurisdiction are also moving forward. The plaintiff in the first case at the LA Superior Court, a 19-year-old woman, claims she has been addicted to social media for more than 10 years and, through constant use of these platforms, has suffered anxiety, depression, and physical impairments.
The defendant companies have countered that the plaintiffs have failed to prove that social media caused mental health harm. A Meta Spokesperson, noting that the company has introduced various safety tools such as restricting content for teenagers, said, "We will vigorously defend ourselves at trial."
U.S. business outlet CNBC reported that Carolyn Kuhl, a judge at the LA Superior Court presiding over the case, ordered Meta Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel to appear at trial and testify the previous day. Judge Kuhl said, "The testimony of the CEOs is particularly important," adding, "If the executive was aware of the harmfulness and yet failed to take feasible steps to avoid it, that can be shown as negligence or ratification of negligent conduct."
Bloomberg noted that if the plaintiffs prevail, settlements worth billions of dollars could be set, similar to lawsuits faced by tobacco companies in the past, and it could bring significant changes to how minors use social media.