"Meta Platforms Inc., ByteDance Ltd., Alphabet Inc. and Snap Inc. must face trial over claims that they designed social media platforms to addict youths, a judge ruled, clearing the way for the first of thousands of cases to be presented to juries. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl late Wednesday ruled against the companies on their last chance to avoid trial."
"Lawyers for the social media companies argued during a hearing before Kuhl in October that plaintiffs had failed to present enough evidence showing that the designs of each platform including algorithms that curate content, endless scrolling and personalized notifications directly caused a litany of harms alleged in the suits. Young users claim excessive screen time has led them to suffer depression, anxiety, insomnia and eating disorders, while others have engaged in self-harm and even died by suicide."
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl ruled that Meta, ByteDance, Alphabet and Snap must face trials on claims they designed social platforms to addict youths, allowing multiple claims to proceed despite trimming one negligence allegation. The litigation targets Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat and includes thousands of suits from individuals, school districts and state attorneys general. A trio of trials beginning in January will feature user testimony about alleged addiction and harms. Plaintiffs claim platform features and algorithms caused depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, self-harm and suicides. Companies contend plaintiffs lack causal evidence and dispute the allegations.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]