The younger generation has been immersed in social media from a young age, but to what extent does it impact their physical and mental well-being? A highly anticipated case of teenage social media addiction is currently being tried in a California court, where the 20-year-old plaintiff, known as KGM, is testifying and sharing her experiences in the hopes of bringing about change in social media platforms.
On February 25th, several parents held a press conference outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse to show support for KGM and shed light on the dangers that social media poses to teenagers.
KGM, a 20-year-old woman from California, referred to as “Kaley” by her lawyer, is the plaintiff in the case titled “K.G.M. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., et al.”, with defendants including Instagram under Meta and YouTube under Google.
Since the 9th, the California court has been hearing this high-profile case. KGM accuses platforms like Meta of intentionally making their platforms addictive, leading to her developing anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, severely affecting her mental health.
The lawsuit points out that social media platforms intentionally foster addiction among teenagers to maximize profits through incomplete age verification, lack of parental controls, infinite scrolling feeds, incessant notifications, and reward mechanisms.
At the press conference on Wednesday, Lennon Torres, the program manager of the child safety advocacy group “Heat Initiative,” stated, “We demand all platforms adopt ‘safe design’ and have a third-party independent body verify the safety of all users to ensure that the promised corrective measures are truly effective.”
The main defendants, Meta and Google, have denied the addiction lawsuit’s allegations and have applied for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of the case on various grounds. The court rejected Meta and Google’s application on November 5th last year. Other defendants, TikTok and Snapchat, have reached settlements with KGM prior to the trial.
On the 18th, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in the Los Angeles Superior Court regarding this lawsuit. He denied intentionally targeting teenagers and emphasized that users under 13 are prohibited from using the software, with Meta actively monitoring users who falsify their age.
Julianna Arnold, the mother of a victim and co-founder of the “Parent Rise” organization, stated at the event on Wednesday, “Our legislators need to take action, so we urge Congress to pass federal legislation such as the ‘Children’s Online Safety Act’.”
A 20-year-old girl named Ayer at the scene also told reporters that the younger generation is the most digitally connected yet the loneliest, as social media steals their attention.
“Growing up, I experienced theft. My attention was stolen, my childhood was stolen, and millions of childhoods were stolen. I lost the ability to judge what truly matters because I started living online rather than in the real world,” she said.
The trial is still ongoing and is expected to take several weeks to complete. ◇