Social trial, now awaiting verdict

The first major trial against tech giants Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and YouTube (Google) ended yesterday after six weeks of dramatic testimony. The jury is now set to deliberate on an unprecedented question: were the social platforms intentionally designed to cause addiction, while ignoring their mental health risks?

At the heart of the case is the story of KGM, a 20-year-old young woman who testified that she became a 'slave' to YouTube when she was only six years old and to Instagram when she was nine. Her thesis, supported by a legal team of more than 1,600 plaintiffs (including 350 families and 250 school districts), is that design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay and 'like' buttons act like digital casino mechanisms, exploiting the vulnerability of the teenage brain.

One of the most tense moments of the trial was the presentation of confidential internal documents. In an email, an Instagram employee allegedly called the app 'a drug', adding cynically: 'Basically we are drug dealers'. These internal admissions were used by the prosecution to demonstrate the companies' awareness of the damage done, which in KGM's case translated into years of severe depression and self-harm.

Meta and YouTube firmly rejected all accusations. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, and Mark Zuckerberg were called to testify. The defence argued that the platforms were safe for the vast majority of users and that KGM's mental health problems were related to pre-existing family dynamics and not to smartphone use. Mosseri also challenged the scientific definition of 'clinical addiction' to social, comparing the excessive use of apps to watching too much television.

While TikTok and Snapchat chose to settle confidentially shortly before the trial began, Meta and Google decided to go all the way. If the jury finds in KGM's favour, the social media companies could face heavy fines, which the plaintiffs' lawyers hope will cause them to change fundamental aspects of how their platforms operate. In this case, the burden of proof falls on the plaintiffs. The jury will have to establish negligence and causation on the part of YouTube and Meta before it can impose damages, so the outcome of the trial could take several forms.