The sentence has arrived. A Los Angeles court ruled Meta and YouTube to pay a total of 6 million dollars to one 20 year old girlcurrently identified only with an acronym: Kaley G.M. His accusation, supported by his family, was not about some content encountered while scrolling the social network or an exchange with some user. It was really about the structure of social networksaccused of being built to create addiction. As reported by the New York Times, Kaley GM accused social media of creating the same effects as cigarettes or gods digital casinos.
There were two companies involved in the lawsuit. The first is Halfowner of Facebook and Instagram. The second is Googleowner of YouTube. Specifically, the company Google refers to is called Alphabet. Among the most cited social networks in this process is Instagram. During a hearing, Kaley explained that she spends up to 16 hours a day on the platform dedicated to vertical content. The compensation awarded by the court is not divided equally: 4.2 million dollars for Meta And $1.8 million for YouTube.
The Tobacco Moment of social media: the beginning of a new phase
The combination with cigarettes it’s not random. Media like CNN are talking about a Tobacco Moment for social networks. A moment when the realization comes that these tools are built for generate addictionexactly as happened in the last century with cigarettes. Sarah Gardner she is the CEO of the Heat Initiative, a group that has been trying to put pressure on women for three years Big Tech. She is the one who said: “This is the crucial moment in the Big Tobacco case for social media: the harm these companies intentionally cause to children has been proven in court.”
Kaley, the girl who spent 16 hours a day on Instagram: “I no longer spoke to my family”
It’s not a trivial step. The risk is that this sentence is the beginning of an avalanche of cases for the social networks. Kaley’s story made it to court in Los Angeles along with those of other people. And new testimonies could arrive in the future, too class action motivated precisely by this ruling.
Not only that. The ruling from the Los Angeles court comes on the same days as the ruling from another court, this time in New Mexicoalso in the United States. This time the case it only concerns Metaaccused by the attorney general Raul Torrez of not having protected minors enough. The theory is that the platform’s protocols have favored contacts by sexual predators. Meta was sentenced to pay 375 million dollars.
The defense of social networks: “We will continue to defend ourselves”
At the moment all the positions we are reading are moving in one direction. Adam Mosserithe head of Instagram, had explained in court that 16 hours is just “problematic use”. And again, committing the sentence, Half he explained: “We disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Children’s mental health is extremely complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves.”
Google’s position is a little different. Although it is often associated with a social network, YouTube in fact is now more like Netflix. They are there now millionaire investments behind the most famous channels. The only section similar to Instagram is that of Shortsshort videos that are always offered differently with each scroll. A Google spokesperson he told CNN: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not social media.”
