LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a couple of month of listening to from dependancy specialists, therapists, platform engineers and executives, together with Mark Zuckerberg, a jury will take heed to closing arguments earlier than heading to the deliberation room to resolve whether or not social media firms must be answerable for harms triggered to youngsters utilizing their platforms.
Closing statements within the trial will start Thursday on the Spring Road Courthouse in Los Angeles. Attorneys representing the plaintiff, a 20-year-old girl, and people representing the 2 defendants, Meta and Google-owned YouTube, will make their respective circumstances to the jurors. TikTok and Snap have been additionally named defendants within the lawsuit, however they every settled earlier than the trial started.
The case, together with two others, has been chosen as a bellwether trial, which means its consequence may impression how hundreds of comparable lawsuits towards social media firms are more likely to play out.
The plaintiff, recognized as KGM in paperwork or Kaley, as her legal professionals have known as her through the trial, says her early use of social media addicted her to the know-how and exacerbated despair and suicidal ideas.
Each the defendants and the plaintiff have pointed to a turbulent residence life for Kaley. Her attorneys say she was preyed upon as a weak person, however attorneys representing Meta and Google-owned YouTube have argued Kaley turned to their platforms as a coping mechanism or a way of escaping her psychological well being struggles.
All through the trial, Meta argued that Kaley confronted important challenges earlier than she ever used social media. The corporate’s lawyer, Paul Schmidt, mentioned earlier this month that the core query within the case is whether or not the platforms have been a considerable consider Kayley’s psychological well being struggles.
As an alternative of specializing in Kaley, the attorneys representing YouTube argue that it’s not a social media platform and that its options aren’t addictive.
