Opening statements begin this week in a landmark trial involving claims that social media platforms Meta and YouTube are designed to be addictive for younger users.
The trial marks the first time major tech giants will face a jury over these allegations. The case is being heard in the California Superior Court of Los Angeles County, with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and video sharing platform YouTube moving forward as defendants.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri are expected to take the witness stand during the trial, with Zuckerberg testifying Feb. 18 and Mosseri testifying on Feb. 11.
Social platforms Snapchat and TikTok were previously named in the lawsuit but reached settlements with the plaintiffs last month.
The case centers on a lawsuit filed by a 19-year-old under the initials K.G.M., along with other plaintiffs who claim the platforms were designed to be addictive, which they claim ultimately led to mental health issues including anxiety, depression and body image issues.
"Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue," the lawsuit claims, pointing to features on social media apps like auto-scrolling.
The social media companies have argued that other factors contribute to the mental health of young social media users.
"We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News previously, adding that the company has made "meaningful changes" to its services, such as introducing accounts specifically for teenage users.
In a statement to ABC News, YouTube also called the allegations untrue, with spokesperson José Castañeda saying in a statement, "Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls."
The trial comes Meta also stands accused of putting children at risk for child abuse and trafficking, which the company denies.
Opening arguments began Monday in a trial in New Mexico in which state Attorney General Raul Torrez has charged that the social media platform has "become a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey."
The lawsuit alleges that "Meta knowingly exposes children to the twin dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm."
As part of a two-year undercover probe, investigators created fake underage accounts and posted about things like losing their last baby tooth and starting their first day of seventh grade -- which they say immediate drew sexually explicit responses and pornographic content.
"I was shocked both by the speed and the scale of what we were seeing, the way in which accounts would be immediately inundated with solicitations for sex, solicitations to share graphic material," Torrez told ABC News.
"I think there is some awareness in the public about the growing harm that these platforms pose to teen mental health and the addictive nature of the platforms," Torrez said. "I think there's far less understanding about how prevalent the predatory behavior is in these spaces.'
"The evidence in this case will be that Meta has knowingly made false and misleading statements particularly about the safety of its platforms for teens and preteens," said Donald Migliore, an attorney for the New Mexico Department of Justice.
An attorney for Meta argues that the company works hard to protect users.
"When you connect 3 billion people, some of those people are going to do terrible things," Meta attorney Kevin Huff told ABC News. "Meta repeatedly has warned parents and teens and everyone that harmful content does get past Meta's safeguards."
Meta also said they "have thousands of people working on safety and security issues globally" and have invested billions in this area.
