On Monday, February 9, a trial against the internet giants Meta and YouTube began in a civil court in Los Angeles that could set an important legal precedent regarding the civil liability of social media operators. The plaintiff's lawyer in this landmark trial claimed that social media giants "created addiction" among their young users.

First modification: 02/10/2026 - 03:36

Meta and YouTube, owned by Google, "created addiction" in children, a lawyer for the plaintiff said Monday, February 9, at the start of a landmark trial over the effects of social media on minors in a California court.

"This case is about two of the richest companies in history that have created addiction in the brains of children," attorney Mark Lanier told the jury in his opening statement.

"I'm going to show you evidence that these companies created machines designed to create addiction in children's brains, and they did it on purpose," he added.

The Los Angeles trial, presided over by Judge Carolyn Kuhl, centers on allegations that a 20-year-old woman identified as Kayley GM suffered severe mental damage from becoming addicted to social media as a child.

"I'm going to talk about how Google and Meta deliberately designed their products, YouTube and Instagram, to hook users and keep them coming back, not by chance, but on purpose, because addiction is profitable," the lawyer said.

Lanier told jurors he would use evidence from the companies "in their own words," as well as brain science, to show why "just quitting" is never an option.

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The lawyer described Instagram as an "infinite feed" of people's "filtered lives," where users "spend their time waiting for social validation."

YouTube "plays the next video before you can decide to stop it," using an algorithm "that learns what keeps you watching and gives you more of the same whether you search for it or not," he said.

The trial is expected to feature Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the stand next week, and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri in the courtroom starting Wednesday.

The trial is being watched with great interest as it could set a legal precedent over whether social media companies deliberately designed their platforms to hook children too vulnerable to look away.

The case is considered a landmark trial, as its outcome could set the tone for a wave of similar litigation across the United States.

The defendants in the trial are Alphabet and Meta, the technology giants behind YouTube and Instagram.

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Neil Mohan, head of YouTube, is also expected to appear.

Social media companies are being accused in hundreds of lawsuits of causing young users to become addicted to content that has led to depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalizations and even suicide.

Plaintiffs' lawyers are borrowing strategies used in the 1990s against the tobacco industry, which faced a similar avalanche of lawsuits arguing that the companies were selling a harmful product.

On Friday, defense attorneys tried unsuccessfully to stop the plaintiffs from comparing their platforms to tobacco and other addictive products.

Health benefits?

"This is the first time that a social media company has had to face a jury for causing harm to minors," Matthew Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, whose team has handled more than 1,000 cases of this type, told AFP.

The center is a legal organization dedicated to holding social media companies accountable for the harm they allegedly cause to young people online.

The internet giants have argued that they are protected by Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, which exempts them from liability for what social media users post.

However, this case maintains that these companies are guilty for their business models designed to capture people's attention and promote content that can harm their mental health.

"The allegations contained in these complaints are simply false," said José Castañeda, a YouTube spokesperson.

"Offering young people a safer and healthier experience has always been fundamental to our work," he added. Meta has also rejected the accusations.

Snapchat and TikTok were named as defendants in the lawsuit, but reached out-of-court settlements before the trial began. The terms of those agreements have not been disclosed.

Lawsuits, including some filed by school districts accusing social media platforms of practices that endanger young users, are being heard in federal courts in Northern California and in state courts across the country.

Another lawsuit is also being processed in New Mexico that accuses Meta of putting economic benefits before the well-being of young users.

"Our investigation into Meta's social media platforms shows that they are not safe spaces for children, but rather prime places for predators to trade child pornography and solicit sex from minors," New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement.

Meta has rejected the accusations and has promised to defend himself in court.

Jury selection in the Los Angeles case ended Friday, with Meta dismissing several jurors for their strong opinions on social media in general or Zuckerberg in particular.

This article is an adaptation of its English version

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