Social media apps like Facebook and Instagram are addictive! At least that’s what four states proclaimed in a monster lawsuit that accuses Meta of fostering unsafe platforms for young users’ mental health and well-being.
Together, the states seek $1.4 trillion in damages — nearly enough to bankrupt the entire company, while lawmakers get even more fuel to ram down restrictive age verification laws on Americans.
The company faces an uphill battle.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As the trial now gets underway, all eyes are on two simple questions.
Is social media addiction medically real? And does that matter in court?
The lawsuit
In early July, Meta revealed that four blue states banded together to stick it to the company and its two top social media platforms. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey filed a joint lawsuit that claims Facebook and Instagram are addictive, especially to minors, and that Meta misled the public on the danger both apps posed to users’ mental health.
Meta was quick to refute the claim, stating that “social media addiction” isn’t a real mental health condition recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, or any other medical organization. The company also denied that it misled the public.
These counterclaims fly in opposition to the historic loss Meta faced in a similar lawsuit against a 20-year-old woman who convinced a jury that she became addicted to social media as a minor. It’s important to note, however, that several other companies were also implicated in that lawsuit, including Snapchat and TikTok (both of which settled) and YouTube (which was also forced to pay damages alongside Meta).
Nevertheless, the plaintiff states want the court to impose sweeping changes to how social media works altogether, scrapping so-called “infinite” scroll, video autoplay, the hugely popular evanescent content that’s often the standard format for short video posts, and even ubiquitous features like filters that alter your facial appearance or content feeds determined largely by algorithm.
Is social media addiction a real problem?
Even if there is no clinical definition for social media addiction, that doesn’t mean these platforms aren’t harmful. But are they actually addictive? It depends on who you ask.
An addiction is defined as “a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence.”
RELATED: Saying Meta hurts kids’ health, state lawsuits demand $1T in penalties
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Some experts claim that an addiction to activities — such as social media, video games, and smartphones in general — illicit a dopamine response in the brain that, if overused, can lead to dopamine deficiency — a complete crash of the brain’s reward system. At this stage, a user may experience irritability, depression, and anxiety. These feelings of withdrawal cause them to re-engage in the addictive activity to regain a sense of pleasure, only to find that the reward mechanism isn’t as effective, which leads to even more of the behavior as they chase the original thrill.
Others claim that the dopamine deficiency theory is pseudoscience at best. Real addiction is much more complex. Unlike activities that provide hits of dopamine, addictive chemicals, like drugs and alcohol, force the dopamine system to run wide open without end, giving the user an insatiable urge for more that can only be fueled by ingesting larger quantities of the initial drug.
Dopamine is involved in both cases. However, it takes an artificial stimulus — like a drug or chemical — to actually turn a dopamine rush into an addiction. Anything else is merely a bad habit that can be reversed or broken.
The real danger of social media
Whether you believe that social media addiction is a legitimate condition or a total farce, the ramifications of cases like the one Meta faces today could have widespread consequences for the American people.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are actively trying to take away our rights to freely access smart devices, AI chatbots, and websites without some form of digital ID. One defining factor in this war against a private and anonymous internet hinges on underage users. Some lawmakers believe that we need protections in place to limit or outright ban social media access for minors. A victory against Meta would only be positioned as further “proof” that social media harms underage users and that more legislation is the only solution.
Given how badly the last case like this went for Meta, the company faces an uphill battle. If found guilty, it could pay up to $1.4 trillion in damages, or approximately 85% of its entire value listed on the NASDAQ.
Tech, Social media, Addiction, Meta
