Instagram and YouTube were designed to be addictive to young users without concern for their well-being.
This is what seven men and five women decided yesterday during a highly-watched jury trial in the US that could shape the future of social media.
Metro has spoken with mental health and legal experts to find out what this ruling means and whether a verdict like this could be seen in the UK.
In short,it was deciding whether social media was built to be addictive,like cigarettes or casino slot machines.
The case was lodged against Meta,the company behind Facebook and Instagram,and YouTube-owner Google.
Plaintiff KGM,a 20-year-old woman from California,created a YouTube channel when she was eight and a Facebook account a year later.
Supporters of Kaley and her legal representatives react outside the court following the landmark verdict (Picture: AFP)
In her suit,KGM,also named as Kaley,claimed she became addicted to the sites as a child and suffered anxiety,depression and body-image issues.
The lawsuit argued that common functions such as infinite scrolling,algorithmic recommendations,pinging notifications and automatically playing videos lead to compulsive use.
Laura Gwilt,a child and adolescent therapist at Swift Psychology,told Metro that social media is a lot more than sliding into people’s DMs.
‘Many platforms use features that are specifically built to keep users engaged for as long as possible,’ she says,comparing pulling down to refresh like pulling the lever of a slot machine.
‘Research shows that these features rely on what psychologists call intermittent rewards. You do not get something interesting every time,but you get it often enough to keep going.’
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‘My concern is that the UK approach could be yet another consultation. By the time that consultation ends and recommendations are made,the tech world will have moved on and we will always be playing catch-up with tech.
‘We need robust action to be taken.’
The Department for Science,Innovation and Technology told Metro that the ruling ‘is a matter for the US courts’.
‘However, we remain completely committed to giving children here in the UK the enriching childhoods they deserve.’
A spokesperson added that the department launched a consultation on how,if at all,social media should be restricted in the UK for child safety.
‘When it comes to children’s safety,nothing is off the table and we will set out our plans in the summer,’ they said.
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