Los Angeles Superior Court saw a highly anticipated civil trial where Dr. Kara Bagot, a psychiatrist specializing in adolescent addiction issues, testified for four days about the addictive effects of social media.
The plaintiff in this case is “Kaley G.M.” (referred to as K.G.M. in court documents), a 20-year-old woman from California who claims that social media addiction has caused her a series of psychological harms. Her lawsuit accuses multiple social media companies of designing platforms to induce addiction among teenagers, even when aware of the harm it may cause. This case is expected to pave the way for thousands of similar civil lawsuits.
From February 27 to March 4, Dr. Bagot testified continuously in court. She told the jury that addiction to social media in childhood can be similar to substance abuse, starting from seemingly innocuous “entry” experiences.
“No matter what you’re addicted to, the signs of addiction in the brain are almost the same,” she said, “It could be a substance or a behavior.”
At six years old, K.G.M. discovered someone playing the children’s game “Animal Jam” on YouTube. By eight, she had created a personal YouTube channel to upload videos of herself playing games. The following year, she started using Instagram. Soon, she had uploaded over two hundred videos on YouTube and managed nearly twenty accounts on these two platforms to satisfy her need for social validation. She expressed that at 20 years old, she still struggles to break free from this addiction.
Dr. Bagot pointed out during her testimony that an increasing amount of evidence and academic consensus supports the idea that compulsive social media use is triggering or contributing to various mental illnesses among teenagers. She believes K.G.M. is a classic case.
Originally, the defendants in this case included the parent companies of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Snapchat and TikTok reached private settlements days before the trial.
Bagot stated that YouTube laid the groundwork for K.G.M.’s addictive behaviors on other platforms, likening it to a “machete” cutting a path in the jungle.
“YouTube was the machete for K.G.M., clearing the way for other addictive behaviors to form more easily,” she said, “Social media addiction is not limited to a single platform; your addiction can shift from one platform to another.”
This aligns with the testimony of Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and addiction expert from Stanford University, who previously told the court that all addictive substances and behaviors act on common neural pathways in the brain. “Gateway” drugs (or behaviors) are usually the easiest to access, leading users to gradually try other substances (or behaviors). Lembke pointed out that once you are addicted to one substance or behavior, it becomes easier to become addicted to others.
Lawyers for YouTube argued that their platform is not even classified as a social media site and lacks many of the so-called addictive features shared by the other defendants, positioning it as an educational tool and creative platform for aspiring content creators like K.G.M.
K.G.M.’s mother filed the original lawsuit when she was 17 years old, initially not naming YouTube as a defendant and only adding it several months later. Through Bagot’s testimony, the plaintiff’s lawyers argued that YouTube was one of the root causes of K.G.M.’s mental decline, emphasizing that it is the platform’s functionalities and operations, rather than the content itself, that truly fuel children’s addiction.
Bagot was involved in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a study on brain health and development involving nearly 12,000 teenagers, similar in age to K.G.M.
Since 2016, the ABCD study has been scanning children’s brains to observe how various childhood experiences – such as physical activity, smoking, and social media use – affect brain development and related outcomes. With almost a decade’s worth of data, the study provides crucial insights into the unprecedented mental health crisis faced by this generation referred to as “digital natives.” The study received $440 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The ABCD study has been tracking the growth of children from ages 9 or 10. Bagot stated that approximately 25%-30% of the participants in the study show signs of social media addiction. “Both literature and the ABCD study have found a correlation between social media use, problematic social media use (indicating loss of control over social media usage), and most importantly, social media addiction, with various mental disorders,” she pointed out.
She noted that experiences like social media can affect the brain structure and cognition of children over time, stating, “Our brains respond differently with repeated exposure.”
During two days of cross-examination, Schmidt pointed out that K.G.M.’s medical records show her mental health issues stem from severe family relationship problems rather than social media use.
Previously, Lembke testified that social media, like substance abuse, can alter the brain through its reward system, trapping individuals in a vicious cycle of compulsion, regret, and withdrawal.
She explained that the dopamine surge triggered by stimulating design features in the defendants’ products can cause the brain to over-regulate – reducing neurotransmitter release, weakening dopamine reception, and requiring more substances or activities to activate the brain’s reward pathway, impacting the developing teenage brain profoundly.
The jury needs to determine if the defendants were aware of the addiction risks and intentionally exploited this reward system to attract young users to their platforms, creating an irresistible pull.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram’s top executive Adam Mosseri, and YouTube’s chief engineer Cristos Goodrow all denied that their products were designed to be addictive.
The defense team, representing them, pointed out that social media addiction disorder has not been formally recognized by the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) issued by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Bagot countered, saying, “The APA recognizes social media addiction, and most major industry organizations provide related resources and references.”
She stated that whether it’s addiction to substances or behaviors (like social media), the diagnostic criteria are generally similar, which includes excessive use leading to neglect of personal life, intense cravings, withdrawal symptoms upon cessation, tolerance (needing more to achieve the same effect), and negative psychological or health impacts.
“One characteristic of addiction is that even though it damages your life, you continue to use it,” Bagot cited K.G.M.’s testimony from last week, mentioning that despite experiencing bullying and other overlapping harms, she could not stop using the platform.
“It’s a very typical addiction pattern,” Bagot said.
She believes the emphasis by the defense on external pressures like family, peer relationships, and educational difficulties are secondary factors. “I don’t think those are causal factors. What truly drives social media addiction is the social media itself. But as she used it longer, the external pressures and social media use interacted, exacerbating her mental health issues over time,” she explained, “It’s like a snowball effect, growing larger and mutually influencing each other.”
Research on the impact of social media on the teenage brain is continuously evolving, with varying conclusions.
Two days after the trial began (on February 11), a study based on the latest ABCD data demonstrated a prospective link between problematic social media usage and various mental and behavioral health outcomes, including depression, somatic symptoms, attention-deficit, oppositional defiance, behavioral disorders, alongside suicidal behavior, sleep disturbances, and substance abuse.
Researchers highlighted that focusing on “problematic use” rather than simply measuring screen time can fill data gaps. In 2023, the U.S. Attorney General had already warned that social media poses “serious risk of harm” to children and teenagers.
On March 2, Schmidt stated that Bagot had never diagnosed teenagers for social media addiction in her own clinic.
Bagot responded, saying, “The term ‘addiction’ carries a stigma… I usually don’t tell kids they’re addicted because I don’t want them to feel labeled.”
While K.G.M.’s other therapists may not have diagnosed her with social media addiction, Bagot believes her medical records suffice to explain the problem. “There’s a significant record of problematic social media use, depression, anxiety, and more. It’s not a straightforward black and white judgment,” she said, “I didn’t see those specific words listed, but the criteria for social media addiction are present in her medical history.”