Meta, Snap head back to Los Angeles court for social media addiction trial

Meta, Snap head back to LA court in social media addiction trial

Social media giants Meta and Snap, the company behind Snapchat, are heading back to court this week for the latest trial in a lawsuit alleging their platforms were intentionally designed to be addictive for young users.

Jury selection began in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday for a case brought by two teenage plaintiffs alleging the companies’ social media platforms caused or contributed to “serious mental health injuries they suffered as adolescents.”

The bellwether case is among the thousands of claims brought against social media companies over the design of their platforms in recent years.

One of the plaintiffs, S.J., a teenager from Illinois, started using Snapchat at a young age, accessing app features like “Snapstreaks” and “Snapscore,” according to attorneys for the adolescent. S.J. also used the app’s filters and push notifications.

These features, attorneys allege, played a role in her compulsive use of Snapchat and her struggles with depression, an eating disorder, anxiety and self-harm.

Like S.J., the second plaintiff, K.D.B., an 18-year-old from Mississippi, said she started using Instagram and Snapchat as a child.

Both plaintiffs also sued TikTok and YouTube but reached settlements with the platforms in the weeks ahead of the trial. Meta and S.J. also reached a settlement last week, her attorneys said.

The jury is scheduled to hear testimony from multiple tech executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg , Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, next month.

While Spiegel has testified in high-profile congressional hearings, his expected appearance will mark the first trial testimony for the Snap CEO.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter , we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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