Brittany Luce

I didn't know it was like that.

Oh, my gosh.

Well, the trial that's happening in Los Angeles right now gets to the heart of the matter.

A jury is going to have to tease out whether or not tech companies intentionally built their platforms to hook young users and keep them on the platforms and whether or not that in turn caused harm to young people.

And this is just the first of several cases that will make their way through the courts in the coming months and years.

Okay, so of course there's obvious things to point at that definitely feel addictive.

Like, you know, you pointed out infinite scroll, autoplay videos, frequent notifications, and recommendation algorithms.

What else do the plaintiffs allege against platforms like Meta, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.

?

That's how they make money.

That's how they make money.

I mean, for their part, the companies are pushing back.

Meta, for example, says that, quote, these lawsuits misportray our company.

We stand by our record of putting teen safety first.

and will keep making improvements, end quote.

That's a lot to take in.

I know you see parallels between this moment with social media and the big tobacco lawsuits from the 90s.

How are they alike and how are they different?

Well, Shannon, thank you so much.

This has been extremely informative and I'm anxious to see how this unfolds.