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Her name is just KGM, the now 20-year-old woman who is currently the biggest terror of Silicon Valley companies. At the age of eight, she created a YouTube account and in the following years began using Instagram, the eventual predecessor of Tiktok, and Snapchat. She claims it addicted her and led to depression, anxiety and an unhealthy body image.
They and their lawyers argue that the apps are designed to be as addictive as possible, with immersive videos, endless scrolling and sophisticated algorithms with an endless stream of content.
Now she has succeeded is pushing his case so far that a high-profile trial begins this week in Los Angeles. The inspiration comes from the way tobacco companies were taken to court in the 1990s, resulting in gigantic damages and forcing the companies to move away from the way they marketed cigarettes.
Is the comparison far-fetched? Nonetheless, Snap, one of the companies mentioned, has already agreed to an agreement. However, Tiktok, YouTube and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will be forced to respond to the allegations. Among other things, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself is expected to testify.
There is a huge amount at stake for companies. The young woman’s story about how bad the apps made her feel is just the first of hundreds of similar cases. If she can win over the corporate giants and their armies of lawyers, families and schools that have made similar accusations of intentionally addictive designs will be waiting for her.
Just like that Tobacco companies were forced to change their marketing, resulting in a reduction in smoking. Social media companies may need to make their services different and less addictive. It is probably more significant than the damages, which they can usually well afford.
Not surprisingly, companies are fighting back. Google-owned YouTube points to YouTube Kids, a special version for children that is supposed to be safer. Meta accuses the plaintiffs of misleadingly choosing quotes from internal company documents in order to give the impression that Meta puts profit above the well-being of its users.
The allegations are by no means new. In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked thousands of documents from Facebook that showed, among other things, that the company knew Instagram was making teenage girls feel guilty but, according to Haugen, failed to act.
Other internal documents is brought to light as KGM’s case reaches the court. According to a lawyer The Guardian spoke to, they will show how Meta’s employees are aware of how the apps’ endless scrolling design and algorithms are addictive. “A drug,” an employee is said to say on the app. “Lol, we’re basically drug dealers,” one colleague reportedly replied.
Read more texts by Linus Larsson.
