Content Warning: This article discusses suicide.

In a pivotal trial in California, Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, has dismissed claims that social media use equates to clinical addiction. This trial examines accusations that the platform deliberately enticed children to increase profits.

The proceedings involve Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, alongside YouTube, a Google subsidiary. The case could establish a significant legal precedent about whether social media companies purposely crafted their platforms to captivate young users.

“It’s crucial to distinguish between clinical addiction and problematic use,” Mosseri asserted while plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier questioned him on Thursday.

He elaborated, “I might have said I was ‘addicted’ to a Netflix series that kept me up all night, but that’s not comparable to clinical addiction.”

At the core of this civil trial is the issue of addiction, with claims that a 20-year-old woman, referred to as Kaley GM, endured significant mental health issues after becoming engrossed in social media from a young age.

She started using YouTube at six and joined Instagram at 11, before moving on to Snapchat and TikTok two or three years later.

Mosseri was the first major Silicon Valley figure to appear before the jury to defend himself against accusations that Instagram functions as little more than a dopamine “slot machine” for vulnerable young people.

Protecting minors is ‘good for the business’, CEO says

In front of the jury of six men and women, Mosseri also pushed back against the idea that Meta was motivated by a “move fast and break things” ethos that valued profit over safety.

“Protecting minors over the long run is even good for the business and for profit,” he said.

Mosseri’s testimony precedes the highly anticipated appearance of his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, currently scheduled for 18 February, with YouTube CEO Neil Mohan the following day.

In opening remarks this week, plaintiffs’ attorney Lanier told the jury that YouTube and Meta both engineer addiction in young people’s brains to gain users and profits.

Meta and Google “don’t only build apps; they build traps,” Lanier said.

Meta’s attorney said the suffering encountered by the plaintiff was due to her family context and could not be attributed to her use of Instagram or other social media.

The attorney for YouTube insisted that the video platform was neither intentionally addictive nor technically social media.

YouTube is selling “the ability to watch something essentially for free on your computer, on your phone, on your iPad”, the attorney insisted, comparing the service to Netflix or traditional TV.

‘Gateway drug’

Stanford University School of Medicine professor Anna Lembke, the first witness called by the plaintiffs, testified Tuesday that she views social media, broadly speaking, as a drug.

She also said young people’s brains were underdeveloped, which is why they “often take risks that they shouldn’t”, comparing YouTube to a gateway drug for kids.

The trial is currently scheduled to run until 20 March.

Social media firms face more than a thousand lawsuits accusing them of leading young users to become addicted to content and suffer from depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalisation, and suicidality.

Kaley GM’s case is being treated as a bellwether proceeding, where the outcome could set the tone for a wave of similar litigation across the US.

Two further test trials are planned in Los Angeles, while a nationwide lawsuit will be heard by a federal judge in Oakland, California.

In New Mexico, a separate lawsuit accusing Meta of prioritising profit over protecting minors from sexual predators began on Monday.

Readers seeking crisis support can ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.

Embrace Multicultural Mental Health supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

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