Meta Platforms, TikTok and YouTube are preparing to face unprecedented legal scrutiny as they stand trial over allegations that their platforms are fueling a youth mental health crisis. The landmark case represents a significant escalation in the national debate about children's screen time and social media usage.

The Landmark Case

The bellwether trial taking place in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, centers on a 19-year-old California woman identified as K.G.M. According to court filings, she alleges that she became addicted to the companies' platforms at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. The plaintiff claims the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts, and she is seeking to hold the companies liable for these mental health impacts.

This lawsuit represents the first of several cases expected to go to trial focusing on what plaintiffs term "social media addiction" among children. According to plaintiff's attorney Matthew Bergman, this will be the first time these tech giants must defend themselves at trial over alleged harm caused by their products.

Key Legal Arguments and Executive Testimony

The jury will determine whether the companies were negligent in providing products that harmed K.G.M.'s mental health, and whether her platform usage was a substantial factor in her depression compared to other potential causes. These other factors include third-party content she viewed on the apps or aspects of her offline life.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to take the witness stand during the proceedings. Meta's lawyers have indicated the company will argue that its products did not lead to K.G.M.'s mental health challenges. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also expected to testify, though Snap agreed to settle K.G.M.'s lawsuit on January 20. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement specifics.

YouTube plans to argue that its platforms are fundamentally different from social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, and should not be grouped together in court proceedings.

Corporate Safety Initiatives and Public Relations Efforts

As the trial begins, these tech companies are simultaneously mounting a nationwide campaign to convince critics that their products are safe for teenagers. They have launched various tools designed to give parents more control over their children's platform usage and have invested millions of dollars promoting these features.

Since 2018, Meta has sponsored parent workshops about teen online safety at dozens of high schools across the United States. The company hosted one such workshop, called Screen Smart, in Los Angeles during 2024, alongside National PTA President Yvonne Johnson and Meta safety chief Antigone Davis.

TikTok has sponsored similar gatherings led by 100 local and regional PTAs through its Create with Kindness program. The curriculum includes tutorials on TikTok's parental features, including options to limit nighttime screen time. Google, YouTube's parent company, has partnered with Girl Scouts to promote online safety education, offering patches featuring Google's logo for completing lessons about digital privacy and online kindness.

Legal Representation and Industry Implications

The companies have retained attorneys with experience in high-profile addiction litigation. Meta has hired Covington & Burling attorneys who previously represented McKesson in opioid epidemic litigation. TikTok's counsel has represented Activision Blizzard and Microsoft in disputes involving video game design and addiction.

Clay Calvert, a media lawyer at the American Enterprise Institute, characterized this as "really a test case" that will determine the viability of theories claiming social media platforms caused plaintiff harm. The outcome could significantly impact how courts handle similar cases and shape the legal landscape for social media platform liability.

Meta Platforms Inc. is facing a significant legal challenge over its WhatsApp messaging service's privacy claims, with an international group of plaintiffs filing a lawsuit that questions the integrity of the platform's encryption promises.

Core Allegations Against Meta

The lawsuit, filed Friday in US District Court in San Francisco, centers on Meta's claims about WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption feature. The plaintiffs allege that Meta's privacy assertions are fundamentally false, claiming the company can "store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users' purportedly 'private' communications." This directly contradicts WhatsApp's in-app messaging that states "only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share" the messages.

WhatsApp's Encryption Claims Under Scrutiny

Meta has positioned end-to-end encryption as a central feature of WhatsApp, marketing it as a security measure where messages are only accessible to the sender and recipient, not the company itself. The encryption is reportedly turned on by default across the platform. However, the plaintiffs argue that despite these public assurances, Meta maintains the ability to access user communications through its storage and analysis systems.

The complaint references "whistleblowers" as sources for these allegations, though the lawsuit does not specify their identities or provide detailed information about their claims. The plaintiffs assert that Meta workers can gain access to users' private messages, contradicting the company's public stance on message privacy.

Meta's Response and Defense

Meta has strongly rejected the allegations, with spokesperson Andy Stone calling the lawsuit "frivolous" and "a frivolous work of fiction." The company emphasized its long-standing use of encryption technology, stating that "WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade." Stone categorically denied any claims that WhatsApp messages are not encrypted, describing such assertions as "categorically false and absurd."

Meta has indicated it will pursue sanctions against the plaintiffs' counsel, suggesting the company views the legal action as without merit and potentially vexatious.

Legal Representation and Next Steps

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from multiple law firms, including Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Keller Postman. The legal team is seeking court certification for a class-action lawsuit, which would potentially represent WhatsApp's billions of users worldwide. Jay Barnett from Barnett Legal, one of the plaintiff's lawyers, declined to comment on the case.

The lawsuit represents a significant challenge to Meta's privacy claims and could have substantial implications for how the company handles user data and communicates about its security features. The case highlights ongoing concerns about digital privacy and the extent to which technology companies can access user communications despite encryption promises.