The historic trial against social media giants accused of designing “addiction machines” has begun in Los Angeles. The case, which was heard on February 10-11, 2026, at the Los Angeles Superior Court in the US state of California, is described as one of the most important cases filed against Meta Platforms (owner of Instagram and Facebook), Google’s YouTube and other technology companies previously mentioned with similar claims. The case could set a precedent for hundreds of similar lawsuits regarding the impact on the mental health of child and young users.
PLAINTIFF AND CLAIMS
Plaintiff KGM, 20, claims that excessive use of Instagram and YouTube as a child led to depression, anxiety, body image issues and suicidal thoughts. Plaintiff’s lawyer Mark Lanier argues that companies are building “addiction machines” to target children’s brains and that they are doing this knowingly.. Lanier said that Meta and YouTube’s internal documents contain goals to increase user interaction, and claimed that young users were clearly targeted in these documents.
COMPANIES REJECT
Lawyers for Meta and YouTube deny the allegations, arguing that the plaintiff’s psychological problems are based on other factors such as domestic violence, abuse and personal history rather than social media use. Meta’s lawyer, Paul Schmidt, argued that they did not accept that social media use could be a “supply-trigger” of the difficulties experienced by the person, but that Instagram alone was not the factor that determined the mental state of FGM. Companies also offer various tools for user safety, trying to protect young users with features such as parental controls, content restriction systems and notification limits. they state.
THE CASE CONTINUES
The trial is expected to last an estimated 6–8 weeks. The jury will listen to the statements of witnesses, while expert opinions, statements of former employees and statements of families are evaluated, senior technology managers are also expected to testify. The statements of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram President Adam Mosseri and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan will be on the court agenda in the coming weeks.. This case is also seen as the first concrete example of thousands of similar cases filed against social media companies in the USA. Such cases bring into question the responsibilities of technology companies regarding child safety and are of great importance because of the possibility of setting a precedent.
A NEW CASE
Child and youth psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Veysi Çeri warned Haber Global Web Özel about the effects of social media on children:
“Because social media is a relatively new phenomenon, it takes time to understand its effects on children’s spiritual development. Increasing research shows that social media can have negative effects on children’s mental health and brain development.. It has been observed that especially the generation born after 2000 has regressed in some cognitive skills compared to previous generations. “One of the most important reasons for this is that children are exposed to excessive social media use.”
CLOSING HOME
“Our observations also reveal that behavioral problems increase and feelings of empathy and compassion decrease in children who are intensively exposed to social media. Behavior problems become more serious when combined with addiction. A generation that does not leave the house and spends almost all its time in front of the screen is developing. We think that this will be one of the biggest problems with children and young people in the next 10 years.”
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