Major Social Media Companies Face Historic Lawsuits Over Harm to Children
The world's largest social media companies are facing several historic lawsuits aimed at holding them accountable for the harm suffered by children using their platforms. The opening arguments of one of these cases began yesterday, Monday, in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Allegations and Affected Platforms
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, as well as YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, are being sued for allegedly deliberately designing their platforms to make children dependent and harm them. Initially, TikTok and Snap were also targeted, but they settled out of court for undisclosed amounts.
A Long and Arduous Trial
The jurors got a first glimpse of a trial that promises to be long, marked by conflicting versions between the plaintiffs and the two remaining tech giants on the defendant's bench.
Meta's Defense
Paul Schmidt, Meta's lawyer, highlighted that there is a disagreement within the scientific community about the concept of social media addiction. According to him, some researchers believe that this phenomenon does not exist, or that the term "addiction" is not the most appropriate description to qualify the intensive use of these platforms.
