February 12, New Delhi: Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, testified before a California court that social media use should not be equated with clinical addiction, as he testified in a major trial examining whether Meta and YouTube intentionally made their platforms addictive for children.
The case centers on allegations that 20-year-old Kaley G.M. suffered serious harm after years of heavy social media use, beginning in childhood.
Plaintiffs argue that technology companies design their apps to function like "slot machines" driven by dopamine, encouraging compulsive usage. However, the companies deny intentionally causing harm and attribute the issue to individual circumstances.
The trial is being viewed as a potential legal milestone and is expected to include testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and YouTube CEO Neil Mohan.