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A set of bellwether cases alleging that social media platforms harmed teens’ safety and mental health is going to trial this year, putting executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the stand to answer questions about what they’ve done or not done to protect kids.
Unlike many earlier legal challenges against social media companies, these cases managed to overcome the companies’ attempts to get them dismissed based on objections citing Section 230, a law that protects online platforms from being held liable for their users’ speech. They accuse companies like Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Google-owned YouTube of designing their platforms in ways that, the plaintiffs claim, they knew could contribute to addiction, depression, and anxiety.
Follow along below for all of the latest updates from the trials we’re currently following.
Zuckerberg enters the courthouse to testify about safety on Instagram.
The Meta CEO walked through the public entrance of the LA Superior Court and past parent advocates and media waiting to learn if they’d get a seat to hear his testimony.
Mark Zuckerberg is taking the stand as social media goes on trial
Lori Schott didn’t care what it took to haul her way from her small town in Eastern Colorado to show up to a Los Angeles courtroom where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday. “I don’t care if I had to hire a pack mule to get me here, I was going to be here,” she told The Verge outside the courthouse Tuesday.
Schott’s daughter Annalee died by suicide at age 18 in 2020, after struggling with body image issues that her mother says were heightened by social media. After her death, Schott found journal entries where Annalee disparaged her own looks and compared herself to other girls’ profiles. “I was so worried about what my child was putting out online, I didn’t realize what she was receiving,” Schott said.
The social media addiction trial is delayed — again.
Just after we entered the courtroom, we learned that a juror has been hospitalized. The parties decided to postpone today’s testimony from former Meta employees to see if the juror can return. Regardless, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify tomorrow — either before the original juror, or an alternate.
Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images
Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose.
The documents were released last week as part of a major set of trials brought by school districts, state attorneys general, and others against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, alleging the design of their products harmed young users. The Tech Oversight Project, which advocates for more regulations on tech platforms to safeguard teens online, compiled a report on the newly released documents, which were independently reviewed by The Verge. On Monday, a federal judge will hear arguments that will determine the scope of the trials, the first of which kicks off in June.
2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Over the next year, top social media executives are expected to take the witness stand to defend their companies from an avalanche of claims about their failure to protect kids.
The first of many trials is set to begin this month in California, when Meta, TikTok, and YouTube face claims that tech addiction harmed a teenager’s mental health. This case is just the tip of the legal iceberg. It kicks off one of two sets of so-called bellwether trials, where judges will hear a selection of cases that represent similar claims, whose outcomes will likely inform settlement amounts for the remaining cases. There are still thousands more cases behind them.
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