Written by Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES – A young California woman who sued Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Google Inc.’s YouTube testified Thursday in a landmark trial that her childhood social media addiction left her feeling anxious, depressed, and insecure about her appearance, but unable to give up her cellphone without feeling more anxious.
The plaintiff in the case, known in court as Kaley GM, 20, said her obsessive use of YouTube starting at age six and use of Instagram at age nine also disrupted her school performance, deprived her of sleep, hampered her personal social life and strained family relationships.
She told the jury her mental health had deteriorated so badly that at the age of 10 she was having suicidal thoughts and began cutting herself “as a coping mechanism to deal with my depression”, although she said she never acted on a suicidal urge.
The case is part of a broader global backlash against social media companies over alleged harm to children and teens. Australia has banned children under 16 from using such platforms, and other countries are considering imposing similar restrictions.
Google and Meta denied the allegations and said the evidence in the case did not support the woman’s claims.
“It’s very difficult to live without her”
Callie testified that her mother would sometimes take her cellphone away for periods of time, triggering bouts of anger and increasing anxiety, and that even as an adult, she felt she could never give up social media.
“I can’t, it’s too hard to live without it,” she said under questioning by her lawyer in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in a case testing whether big tech companies can be held liable for designing apps widely blamed for fueling a mental health crisis among young people.
When her attorney, Mark Lanier, asked her why she felt so desperate to get her cellphone back when her mother took it, she replied: “Because without it I felt like a big part of me was missing, and if I didn’t have that, I would be missing something, and it would send me into a panic mode.”
Callie said she had come to rely on social media for validation and connection, despite frequent online bullying, but said staying away from social media “bothered me more” than the derogatory comments she was seeing.
The main allegation in the lawsuit, which was first filed by her mother two years ago before Callie turned 18, is that Meta and Google seek to profit by connecting young children to their services despite knowing that social media can harm their mental and behavioral well-being.
The plaintiff took her stand a day after her former psychotherapist, who treated Callie for several months when she was 13 and 14 years old, testified that excessive social media use was a “contributing factor” to her mental health problems, which she then diagnosed as social phobia and body dysmorphic disorder.
The trial, which began in late January, also focused on what companies know about how social media affects children and their business strategies related to younger users. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that the company discussed products for children but never launched them.
To win the case, Cali’s lawyers must prove that the way the companies designed or managed the platforms was a material factor in causing or exacerbating her mental health problems.
Home life questions
In his opening statements, Mita’s attorney said Kelly’s health records show a history of verbal and physical abuse and a fraught relationship with her parents, who separated when she was 3 years old. Callie’s mother is expected to testify after her daughter’s testimony.
On the witness stand Thursday, Callie said her mother sometimes abused her and beat her, but she said her mother, who worked and was raising three children, was a loving mother who lived with her and remained very close to her.
Callie works as a personal shopper at Walmart and has a degree in communications, and aspires to get her bachelor’s degree and work in social media.
Her lawyer pointed to a recent internal study conducted by Meta, which shows that teenagers suffering from difficult life circumstances often use Instagram habitually or unintentionally.
Its lawyers claim that features such as auto-playing videos and infinite-scrolling feeds are designed to keep users on the platforms, despite evidence of harm to the mental health of younger users. “Like” buttons satisfied teens’ need for validation while beauty filters distorted their self-image, the lawyer said.
YouTube’s lawyer said Cali failed to use platform features designed to protect users from bullying, including tools for deleting comments and limiting time spent watching videos, according to the court filing.
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