In a landmark lawsuit, the court found YouTube and Meta liable for creating intentionally addictive social media platforms that harmed the plaintiff’s mental health.
Earlier this year, 20-year-old Kaley sued YouTube and Meta, which includes Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, for negatively affecting her mental health through their addictive social media platforms. She claimed that her addiction to the social media platforms added to her mental health struggles and body dysmorphia.
The result of the trial saw the social media giants found liable for intentionally creating addictive platforms and awarded Kaley $6 million in damages. Meta and YouTube maintain that teen mental health is complex and cannot be linked to just one social media platform.
YouTube, in particular, disagreed with the verdict, claiming they are not a social media platform but rather a streaming platform. Both Meta and YouTube contest the verdict and intend to appeal.
While social media platforms can be a creative outlet, they also represent severe issues in their setup. By design, their infinite scroll, autoplay videos and tailored algorithms all factor into keeping users engaged and scrolling endlessly. For some, like Kaley, this can result in mental health issues and withdrawing from the real world and real relationships to live exclusively online.
Social media platforms are also receiving significant backlash for their inability to properly protect children, who are the most vulnerable users. Meta allegedly only allows users over the age of 13, but Kaley said she started using Instagram at the age of nine and received no blocks because of her young age.
Other countries are starting to look into stricter social media restrictions. Last December, Australia imposed a social media ban on all children under the age of 16, with other countries beginning to follow suit.
However, the efficacy of the ban is questionable, because while millions of social media accounts have been deactivated due to suspicion of being underage users, the majority of Australians under 16 still use social media.
Kaley’s case is not unique, as social media giants such as Meta and Snap, the owner of Snapchat, are facing hundreds of lawsuits. The verdict of her lawsuit comes on the heels of a New Mexico trial, which decided that Meta harms children’s safety and mental health and is in violation of state laws. The jury decided that the social media platform did not adequately protect children from predators, and as a result, Meta paid out $375 million in damages.
However, the result of her lawsuit sets the precedent for future cases, validating the claim that social media can cause personal harm and injury. It is likely to influence other lawsuits set to go to court later this year and result in social media platforms paying out millions in damages.
The money is a drop in the bucket to Meta and YouTube, who bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue each year. However, it is hopeful that the increased public scrutiny will afford some changes to the social media platforms to make them safer for minors and adults alike.
