"Mark Lanier delivered the opening statement for the plaintiffs first, in a lively display where he said the case is as "easy as ABC," which he said stands for "addicting the brains of children." Lanier called Meta and Google "two of the richest corporations in history" that have "engineered addiction in children's brains." He presented jurors with a slew of internal emails, documents, and studies conducted by Meta and YouTube, as well as YouTube's parent company, Google."
"He emphasized the findings of a study Meta conducted called "Project Myst" in which they surveyed 1,000 teens and their parents about their social media use. The two major findings, Lanier said, were that the company knew children who experienced "adverse events" like trauma and stress were particularly vulnerable for addiction, and that parental supervision and controls made little impact."
Major social media companies Meta and Google face a Los Angeles trial alleging their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. Plaintiffs presented opening statements asserting corporate knowledge and engineered addiction supported by internal emails, documents, and studies. Counsel cited Meta's "Project Myst" survey of 1,000 teens and parents, finding vulnerable youth experienced adverse events and parental controls had little effect. Jurors heard that internal Google materials likened YouTube to a casino and Meta employees described Instagram as "like a drug" and "basically pushers." The case centers on a 20-year-old plaintiff identified as KGM and could influence thousands of similar claims.
Read at Newsmax
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