Meta Platforms, TikTok
and YouTube will face courtroom scrutiny this week over
allegations that their platforms are fuelling a youth mental
health crisis, as the national debate about kids’ screen time
enters a new phase.
The trial in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County
is a test case for thousands of other lawsuits seeking damages
for social media harms, in a legal onslaught that could erode
Big Tech’s longstanding legal defense.
The plaintiff is a 19-year-old woman from California,
identified as K.G.M., who says she became addicted to the
companies’ platforms at a young age because of their
attention-grabbing design, according to court filings. She
alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and
is seeking to hold the companies liable. Jury selection in the
case begins on Tuesday.
Her lawsuit is the first of several cases expected to go to
trial this year that center on what the plaintiffs call “social
media addiction” among children. It will be the first time the
tech giants must defend themselves at trial over alleged harm
caused by their products, the plaintiff’s attorney Matthew
Bergman said.
A factor in the case is a federal law that largely exempts
platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from legal liability for
the material their users post. The tech companies have argued
the law shields them in K.G.M.’s case.
A verdict against the social media companies would put a
crack in that defense, which has protected them from lawsuits
for decades. It would show that juries are willing to hold the
platforms themselves liable. The issue is likely to reach the
Supreme Court, whether through K.G.M.’s case or another,
Bergman said.
“We are writing on a legal tabula rasa,” he told Reuters.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is expected to take
the witness stand. The company will argue in court that its
products did not lead to K.G.M.’s mental health challenges,
Meta’s lawyers told Reuters ahead of the trial.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also expected to testify, as his
company was named a defendant in the lawsuit. Snap
agreed on January 20 to settle K.G.M.’s lawsuit. A company
spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the deal.
YouTube will argue that the company’s platforms are
fundamentally different from social media platforms such as
Instagram and TikTok, and should not be lumped together in
court, a YouTube executive said ahead of the trial.
TikTok declined to comment about the company’s planned
arguments in court.
Shaping public opinion
As the trial begins, the same tech companies are mounting a
nationwide effort to convince critics that their products are
safe for teens. They’ve launched tools they say give parents
more control over how their kids use the platforms and have
spent millions of dollars promoting those features.
Since at least 2018, Meta has sponsored parent workshops about
teen online safety at dozens of high schools across the U.S. The
company hosted one of those workshops, dubbed Screen Smart, in
2024 in Los Angeles, alongside National PTA President Yvonne
Johnson and Meta safety chief Antigone Davis. National PTA is a
nonprofit that advocates for child welfare.
TikTok also sponsored similar gatherings led by 100 local and
regional PTAs, calling it Create with Kindness, according to the
company’s website. The program included tutorials on TikTok’s
features for parents, including the option to limit screen time
at night, according to the curriculum.
YouTube’s parent company Google in recent years has
turned to Girl Scouts to convince the public it is invested in
kids’ online safety. Girls can earn a patch, which features
Google’s logo, to affix to their uniform after completing
lessons about strong passwords, being kind online and digital
privacy, according to the Girl Scouts website.
The companies have also hired lawyers who have represented
corporations in high-profile litigation involving addiction.
Meta has hired Covington & Burling attorneys who represented
McKesson in sprawling litigation related to the opioid epidemic,
according to public biographies of the attorneys. TikTok’s
counsel, meanwhile, represented Activision Blizzard and
Microsoft in a dispute about video game design and addiction.
“These companies are using every lever of influence that you
can imagine,” said Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against
Media Addiction, a group that supports smartphone bans in
schools. “It can be very confusing for parents who to trust.”
Published on January 27, 2026
