‘IG is a drug’: jury to deliberate as US trial over social media addiction wraps up

Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, arrives in court in Los Angeles in February. Photograph: Jill Connelly/Getty Images

The first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for a young woman at the center of the case say the tech companies have designed their products to be addictive, leading to mental health issues in children and teens.

“How did they become such behemoths?” Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said during closing arguments in Los Angeles superior court on Thursday, according to NBC. “It’s the attention economy. They’re making money off capturing your attention.”