<span>STORY: A California state court case over whether Instagram and YouTube harmed a woman’s mental health through addictive app design kicks off on Monday (February 9).</span><span>It’s seen as a test of whether Big Tech platforms can be held liable for harming kids.</span><span>The 20-year-old woman identified as K.G.M. filed the lawsuit against Instagram parent company Meta and Alphabet’s Google, which owns YouTube.</span><span>According to court filings, she says the attention-grabbing design of the platforms got her addicted to them at a young age.</span><span>She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts, and wants to hold the companies liable.</span><span>A verdict against the tech firms could lead the way for similar cases in state court.</span><span>And shake the industry’s longstanding U.S. legal defense against claims of user harm.</span><span>Google, Meta, TikTok and Snap face thousands of lawsuits in California. </span><span>Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be called as a witness at the trial.</span><span>TikTok and Snap settled with K.G.M. before the trial.</span>
