The woman who sued Meta and YouTube for social media addiction took the witness stand in court

As her landmark trial continues in Los Angeles, a California woman will testify Wednesday in court about the impact of using Meta Platforms’ Instagram and Google’s?YouTube when she was a child on her mental health.

In court, the plaintiff is known as 'Kaley G.M. In court, the plaintiff, known as?Kaley G.M. Her lawyers claim that companies tried to make money by hooking children onto their services, despite the fact they knew social media could damage their mental health.

This case is part of an alleged global backlash against social media companies for allegedly harming children and teenagers. Australia has banned its young users, and other countries are looking at similar curbs.

The first part of the trial was centered on what companies knew about the impact social media has on children and their strategies for marketing to them. The trial will now focus on the woman's claim about how the services affected her. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, testified in court that his company had discussed products for children but never released them.

Her lawyers will have to prove that the design or operation of the platforms by the companies was a significant factor in her mental health problems.

Meta's attorney said that her health records reveal a history verbal and emotional abuse, as well as a strained relationship with her parents who divorced at the age of three.

Her lawyer has cited a "recent study" by Meta that found teens in difficult situations were more likely to use Instagram unintentionally or habitually.

Her lawyers claim that features such as autoplaying videos and feeds that let users scroll endlessly were created to keep users on platforms longer despite evidence of harms caused to the mental health of younger users. The lawyer said that "like" buttons appealed to teens' need for approval, while beauty filters distorted their self-image.

According to a court document, YouTube's attorney said Kaley did not use features that protect users from bullying. These included tools to delete comments or limit the time spent watching videos. According to the attorney, Kaley spent an average of 1 minute 14 seconds per day watching YouTube shorts. Her average time streaming YouTube videos over the last five years was 29 minutes. Reporting by Jody Gooby in New York, Steve Gorman Los Angeles and Courtney Rozen Washington. Editing by Aurora Ellis.

(source: Reuters)