The Social Media Addiction Trial

[Matthew-NC]

WNYC Studios: The Social Media Addiction Trials Begin

In a landmark trial in California, Meta and Google are being accused of addicting children to social media. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the dramatic proceedings are playing out, and how measures to protect kids online can backfire. Plus, why are betting companies showing up in newsrooms?

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with  Madlin Mekelburg, a legal reporter at Bloomberg, about the landmark lawsuit against Google and Meta that went to trial this week. The social media giants are being accused of deliberately designing their platforms in a way that is addictive and harmful to children’s brains, and the verdict of this case will influence the outcomes of thousands of similar cases across the country. Plus, neuroscience researcher Ian Anderson explains why the ‘addiction’ framework misses the complexity of what social media does to our brains.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-09/social-networks-face-big-tobacco-moment-over-addiction-claims?srnd=undefined

Overestimates of social media addiction are common but costly - Scientific Reports

Overuse of social media is commonly termed a behavioral addiction. However, there is reason to believe that users overestimate their addiction; instead, frequent use largely builds habits to automatically activate, scroll, post, and react on social media. The present research (N = 1204) explored...

www.nature.com

K.G.M. v. Meta et al. - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org