A landmark trial against Meta and YouTube opened this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, marking the first time the social media companies must defend before a jury against allegations that their platforms’ addictive features have harmed young users’ mental health.
The consolidated case centers on claims that design elements such as infinite scrolling, push notifications, and algorithmic recommendations prioritize engagement over safety, contributing to issues like anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts in teens.
The trial began January 27, 2026, with jury selection and opening arguments in the case of a 19-year-old plaintiff identified as K.G.M.
According to her lawsuit, as reported by NPR, “The more K.G.M. accessed Defendants’ products, the worse her mental health became.”
The complaint alleges she developed a compulsion to use Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube starting at age 10, despite parental restrictions, leading to mental health declines, including self-harm and suicidal ideation.
Internal documents and expert testimony are expected to highlight company awareness of potential risks to minors.
Meta and Google (YouTube’s parent) deny the claims, arguing mental health issues are complex and multifaceted.
As Meta stated in a recent blog post cited in CBS News, “Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies. But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal.”
A Google spokesperson told NBC News, “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”
TikTok settled its portion of K.G.M.’s suit just before trial, as The Dallas Express previously reported, and Snap settled earlier under undisclosed terms.
The case tests product design liability, sidestepping some Section 230 protections. More than 40 state attorneys general have filed separate suits against Meta over similar youth-harm allegations.
Testimony, including potential appearances by executives such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is expected to continue for an estimated six to eight weeks.