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Arguments to begin in landmark social media addiction trial set in Los Angeles

Associated Press (AP)EN 6 min read 100% complete by By  KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAYFebruary 9, 2026 at 08:53 AM
Arguments to begin in landmark social media addiction trial set in Los Angeles
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long article 6 min

A landmark social media addiction trial is set to begin in Los Angeles County Superior Court this week, focusing on claims that Meta (Instagram) and Google (YouTube) deliberately addict and harm children. The lawsuit centers around a 19-year-old, identified as "KGM," and is the first of several trials this year against major social media companies. These trials aim to hold the companies accountable for alleged harms to children using their platforms. TikTok and Snap, originally named in the lawsuit, have already settled for undisclosed amounts. The plaintiffs argue that the platforms' designs intentionally create addictive behaviors in young users.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context
Sydney 30% Baltimore 30% San Francisco 30% Sacha Haworth 40% Tech Oversight Project 40% Los Angeles County Superior Court 40% Snap 50% Google ×460% Meta ×270% YouTube ×270% Los Angeles ×280% TikTok ×390%

Keywords

social media addiction 100% trial 80% lawsuit 80% children 70% youtube 60% meta 60% harmful products 50% tiktok 50% big tech 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative
Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source
Associated Press (AP)
Classification Confidence
90%
Geographic Perspective
Los Angeles

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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social media addictiontriallawsuitchildrenyoutubemetaharmful productstiktokbig tech
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