The 20-year-old woman identified as K.G.M. filed the lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram parent company, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet’s Google, which owns YouTube. She says the attention-grabbing design of the platforms got her addicted to them at a young age, according to court filings. She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and she is seeking to hold the companies liable.
A verdict against the tech companies could smooth the way for similar cases in state court and shake the industry’s longstanding United States legal defense against claims of user harm. Google, Meta, TikTok and Snap face thousands of lawsuits in California.
Meta Platforms Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be called as a witness at the trial, which is likely to stretch into March. TikTok and Snap settled with K.G.M. before the trial.
–Reuters–
