"Social media companies will have to answer to a jury – for the first time – for allegations that their products are intentionally addictive and harmful to young users’ mental health. Hundreds of parents, teens and school districts sued Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, leading to a series of landmark trials that began this week. Jury selection in the first case started on Tuesday in Los Angeles court.
Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is among the big tech CEOs who are expected to testify. Both sides are likely to bring in experts to hash out the science behind alleged addiction to social media.
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| Social media companies will have to answer to a jury |
The initial trial involves a 20-year-old, identified by the initials KGM, who alleges she experienced physical and emotional harm after becoming addicted to social media at age 10. This case is expected to last six to eight weeks, and will be the first of about 22 “bellwether” trials. The outcome can signal, and influence, how courts and juries may handle similar lawsuits in the future. Snap and TikTok have settled with the plaintiff in the first case, leaving Meta and YouTube to stand trial.
“Everybody’s looking at it as a data point,” said Benjamin Zipursky, a law professor at Fordham University."
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