Addictive by design: has the 'big tobacco' moment arrived for social media? |
Social media platforms Instagram and YouTube have a design defect which means they are addictive, a jury in the United States has ruled.
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The Los Angeles jury took nearly nine days to reach its verdict in the landmark case brought by a woman known as KGM against social media platforms. It awarded $US3 million in damages, with Meta (owner of Instagram) being 70 per cent responsible and Google (owner of YouTube) 30 per cent. The jury later awarded a further $US3 million in punitive damages.
Both TikTok and Snap settled on confidential terms before the six-week trial commenced.
This is Meta's second big loss in the US courts this week, with a New Mexico jury finding the company guilty on March 24 of concealing information about the risks of child sexual exploitation and the harmful effects of its platforms on children's mental health.
KGM's case is the first of its kind, but won't be the last: it is one of more than 20 "bellwether" trials due to go to court soon. These are essentially test cases used to gauge juries' reactions and set a legal precedent.
As such, the verdict is set to have far-reaching ripple effects. It could be big tech's big tobacco moment, with thousands more similar cases waiting in the wings.
Machines designed to addict
KGM - now 20 years old - said she began using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine, and allegedly developed compulsive use patterns, including up to 16 hours in a single day on Instagram. The platforms' design features, she argued, contributed to her anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and suicidal ideation.
Her case argued that Meta and YouTube made deliberate design choices - for example, "infinite scroll" - to make their platforms more addictive to children in order to boost profits. It alleged the companies borrowed heavily from the behavioural and neurobiological techniques used by poker machines and exploited by the cigarette industry to maximise youth engagement and drive advertising revenue.
KGM's lawyer........