{"id":2362,"date":"2026-02-19T01:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/social-media-on-trial-tech-giants-face-lawsuits-over-addiction-safety-and-mental-health\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T01:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:27:09","slug":"social-media-on-trial-tech-giants-face-lawsuits-over-addiction-safety-and-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/social-media-on-trial-tech-giants-face-lawsuits-over-addiction-safety-and-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A person holding up a smartphone with their face covered by pixels\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Cath Virginia \/ The Verge\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/STKS526_SOCIAL_MEDIA_TRIAL_CVIRGINIA_D_1b4bb5.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" \/><figcaption>\n\t\t<\/figcaption><\/p><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">A set of bellwether cases alleging that social media platforms harmed teens\u2019 safety and mental health is going to trial this year, putting executives like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/880375\/meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-testimony-los-angeles-social-media-addiction-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> on the stand to answer questions about what they\u2019ve done or not done to protect kids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Unlike many earlier legal challenges against social media companies, these cases managed to overcome the companies\u2019 attempts to get them dismissed based on objections citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/21273768\/section-230-explained-internet-speech-law-definition-guide-free-moderation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Section 230<\/a>, a law that protects online platforms from being held liable for their users\u2019 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><em>Follow along below for all of the latest updates from the trials we\u2019re currently following.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/880754\/zuckerberg-enters-the-courthouse-to-testify-about-safety-on-instagram\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zuckerberg enters the courthouse to testify about safety on Instagram.<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/880375\/meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-testimony-los-angeles-social-media-addiction-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Zuckerberg is taking the stand as social media goes on trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/880348\/the-social-media-addiction-trial-is-delayed-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The social media addiction trial is delayed \u2014 again.<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/867845\/meta-youtube-snap-tiktok-social-media-trials-documents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/867830\/social-media-trials-product-liability-school-districts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 is the year of social media\u2019s legal reckoning<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A set of bellwether cases alleging that social media platforms harmed teens\u2019 safety and mental health is going to trial [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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