Wednesday’s court ruling, finding tech giants Meta and YouTube liable for social media addiction, could have far-reaching impacts on how social media companies operate and how consumers use the apps. Some experts are calling the lawsuit tech’s “big tobacco moment.”

“The cigarette companies, it came out, targeted young people knowing that’s where they got their life customers,” said Matthew Bergman, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers and founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center.

“Virtually the identical documents have emerged from social media companies. They target adolescents because their brains are not fully developed, they know they are emotionally vulnerable and crave the adulation of their peers.”

The jury found that Instagram and YouTube, are deliberately engineered to be addictive and that its owners, have been negligent in safeguarding the children who use them.

Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, have been ordered to pay the victim US$6 million. The plaintiff claimed the platforms left her with body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts. Both companies plan to appeal with Meta, insisting an app cannot be held solely responsible for a teen’s mental health. YouTube claims it is not even a social network.

“We’ve been talking about this for years, the idea that consequences eventually catch up with everyone,” said France Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook, who blew the whistle on the company, accusing it of putting profits over the safety of its users.

“This jury’s verdict is the first time average people have got to actually look through Facebook’s research in a detailed way, talk to their executives,” she said. “And they came to the conclusion that they knew how to keep kids safe and they chose not to because it made them more money.”

Haugen notes, there are hundreds of similar cases making their way through the court system, which could cost tech giants billions of dollars. She hopes this will be an important step toward changing how these companies are run.

“They need to think about their internal governance processes and make sure that they have the checks and balances in place,” she said.

Changing conversations in Canada

Among the lawsuits filed against tech companies, are a number involving Ontario school boards, which have sued Meta, Snap and TikTok, for being psychologically manipulative. While the U.S. verdict won’t impact the Canadian case, it’s a sign the conversation is changing.

“They really need us to parent,” says Vanessa Symchych, a Toronto mother of two, who says her daughter was addicted to social media. A cyberbullying incident prompted Symchych to enforce a four month digital detox.

“She was always tired, grumpy,” Symchych says before the ban. “She’s (now) more present in everything and her grades have improved a lot as well.”

Symchych’s daughter is back online, but with time limits and more parental controls. She welcomes efforts to change the tech companies but says parents need to be involved as well.

“These are critical years, they don’t have the brain development to make these decisions and so we really need to guide them.”