Landmark Trial Begins Accusing Social Media of Addicting Children

Meta and YouTube face claims their platforms deliberately harm young users

Published on Feb. 9, 2026

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A landmark trial has begun in Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing the world's largest social media companies, including Meta (Instagram's parent) and Google's YouTube, of deliberately addicting and harming children who use their platforms. The lawsuit alleges the companies designed their products to be addictive, leading to mental health issues and other harms for young users. TikTok and Snap previously settled out of court for undisclosed sums.

Why it matters

This trial represents a major legal challenge to the business models of leading social media platforms, which have long been accused of prioritizing user engagement and growth over the wellbeing of their youngest users. A ruling against the tech giants could force significant changes to how they design and operate their services, with potential implications for the entire industry.

The details

The lawsuit alleges that Meta, YouTube, and other major social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to be as addictive as possible for children and teenagers, leading to mental health issues, sleep deprivation, and other harms. The plaintiffs claim the companies used tactics like infinite scrolling, autoplay, and recommendation algorithms to keep young users engaged for as long as possible, despite internal research showing the negative impacts.

  • The trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court began this week with opening statements.

The players

Meta

The parent company of Instagram, one of the social media platforms accused in the lawsuit.

YouTube

The video-sharing platform owned by Google, also named as a defendant in the trial.

TikTok

The short-form video app that previously settled out of court for undisclosed sums related to the lawsuit's allegations.

Snap

The company behind the Snapchat app, which also settled out of court prior to the trial.

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The takeaway

This trial represents a major legal challenge to the business models of leading social media platforms, which have long been accused of prioritizing user engagement and growth over the wellbeing of their youngest users. The outcome could force significant changes to how these companies design and operate their services, with potential ripple effects across the entire industry.