A 20-year-old woman, who sued Meta’s (META) Instagram and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) YouTube in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit, is expected to take the stand on Thursday.
The woman, identified in court by her initials K.G.M., started using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine. Her lawsuit alleged that the social media apps were designed to be addictive, negatively impacting her mental health.
K.G.M. was scheduled to take the stand on Wednesday, but her testimony was delayed as lawyers continued to question her former therapist, Victoria Burke, into the afternoon.
In 2019, Burke treated then 13-year-old K.G.M. for several months. K.G.M. was first diagnosed as having generalized anxiety disorder, but Burke later revised the diagnosis to social phobia and body dysmorphia.
“I believe it was a contributing factor, not a causation factor,” Burke responded under cross-examination when asked about social media’s role in K.G.M.’s mental issues.
According to Meta’s (META) counsel, K.G.M.’s mental health issues were a result of verbal and physical abuse by her mother and not social media use.
Google’s (GOOGL) attorney argued that K.G.M. was not addicted to YouTube, noting that her average time viewing YouTube Shorts was a little over 1 minute per day and for streaming videos was around 29 minutes.
The trial is the first in a string of cases brought against Meta (META), TikTok (TIKTOK), Snap (SNAP) and Alphabet (GOOGL) by more than 1,600 plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants’ social media apps were designed to maximize screen time, which can encourage addiction in young users and lead to emotional and physical harm.
Snap (SNAP) and TikTok (TIKTOK) reached a settlement with K.G.M. last month, for which the terms were not disclosed. The companies remain defendants in other similar lawsuits.