Los Angeles, 10 February (H.S.): In a groundbreaking federal trial that commenced on Monday, before Judge Carolyn Kuhl in Los Angeles Superior Court, plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier delivered a searing opening statement, charging Meta Platforms and Alphabet's YouTube with deliberately engineering addictive algorithms in Instagram and YouTube that devastated the mental health of 20-year-old plaintiff Kayley G.M. during her formative years.

Lanier electrified the courtroom by asserting, This case is about two of the richest corporations in history who have engineered addiction in children's brains, vowing to unveil irrefutable evidence—including the companies' internal communications and neuroimaging studies—demonstrating purposeful exploitation of juvenile neuroplasticity for revenue maximization.

He lambasted simplistic parental exhortations like just put it down as futile against biochemically hijacked reward circuits, likening the platforms to slot machines calibrated for endless engagement.

Dissecting platform mechanics, Lanier portrayed Instagram's infinite scroll as a never-ending feed of filtered lives, compelling users—especially impressionable youth—to languish in anticipation of dopamine-spiking validation through likes and comments, while YouTube's autoplay preempts volition by auto-queuing content via machine learning that anticipates and amplifies retention irrespective of initial queries.

Kayley G.M. alleges that unchecked immersion from adolescence onward precipitated acute anxiety, body dysmorphia, clinical depression, and suicidal ideation, rendering normal functioning untenable; her suit, filed alongside mother Karen Glenn, indicts addictive features like autoplay and infinite scroll as proximate causes.

This bellwether—first jury trial amid 1,600 consolidated claims from 350 families across 250 districts—tests negligence doctrines, potentially eroding Section 230 protections if jurors find foreseeable harm outweighed parental or content-based factors.

Preceding settlements by TikTok on January 27, 2026, and Snap on January 20 underscore mounting pressure, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg slated for testimony amid demands for compensatory damages and injunctive redesigns.

Projected to span six to eight weeks, the proceedings promise unprecedented disclosure of proprietary youth engagement research, galvanizing legislative momentum like the Kids Online Safety Act and echoing Big Tobacco reckonings by framing profit-driven design as societal menace.

Defendants counter that familial dynamics, not platforms, underpin issues, positioning this as a crucible for tech liability in the algorithmic age.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar