Instagram and Youtube Owners Built “Addiction Machines”, Landmark Trial Hears
The world’s largest social media companies have been accused of creating “addiction machines” as a landmark trial began in California examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube.
“This case is about two of the richest corporations in history who have engineered addiction in children’s brains,” said Mark Lanier, lawyer for a plaintiff suffered from mental health issues as a result of her social media addiction.
In a selected portion of a 2015 email Lanier showed the court, Zuckerberg demanded that “time spent increases by 12%” on Meta platforms to meet internal business goals.
As for YouTube, Lanier said the platform intentionally targeted young users because it could “charge advertisers more”, as compared to its YouTube Kids platform.
The Los Angeles trial will test legal arguments set forth by families claiming to have seen their children suffer due to their use of social media and the platforms which reject liability for how their platforms are used by people.
The outcome of the trial may provide a benchmark for monetary damages that would likely impact thousands of cases brought by other plaintiffs, their families, state prosecutors, and school districts across the United States.
Source: BBC News (10 February 2026)
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wlpqpe2z4o?