Lawyers for a now-20-year-old woman are arguing that addictive features harmed her mental health in opening statements in a landmark trial against Meta and YouTube, the first of hundreds of similar cases to go to trial.
The plaintiff — identified by her first name, Kaley, or her initials, KGM — and her mother accused the tech companies of intentionally creating addictive platforms that caused her to develop anxiety, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have indicated they will argue that a difficult family life, not social media, was responsible for her mental health challenges.
Speaking on Monday in front of a jury in state court in Los Angeles, Kaley’s lawyer Mark Lanier called social media apps like YouTube and Instagram “digital casinos,” saying the app’s “endless scroll feature” creates dopamine hits that can lead to addiction.
This is the modern version of the Judas Priest backwards masking case.
How so? These companies are actively trying to make their platforms addictive. And it’s pretty well established at this point that social media is harmful to mental health, is it not? It’s a society and parenting issue as well, obviously, but that doesn’t mean these companies shouldn’t be regulated.
The Judas case was complete bullshit, however. The message was “do it”, wasn’t it? So even if it had been a purposeful subliminal message, it’s like saying Nike’s slogan is harmful. It’s silly.
In the same way it was well established that heavy metal was harmful to mental health in the 80s. The moral panics of the 80s seem goofy to people today, but back then it was just as deadly serious and real as the magical mystery algorithms hacking and controlling our brains today.
The evil YouTube wizardry is currently recommending me videos about the Flax engine, Blender, Satisfactory, and old clips of Norm MacDonald. If it’s telling you to kill yourself, that’s because you’re asking it how to. It’s just matching keywords in videos: user watched video with keywords Einstein, gravity, and relativity therefor, recommend Einstein Oppenheimer clip, Kerbal Space Program review, and Sabine Hossenfelder video. Replace those keywords with nasty ass shit and you’re getting more nasty ass shit.
On Reddit, I always find it hilarious when people out themselves when they’re complaining about porn sites sending them some weird ass videos. “Oh man! I don’t understand why Pornhub keeps showing me videos of women being strangled!” No, no, you don’t understand but I sure as hell do.
You’ve never come across something and view it out of curiosity? The algorithms love when you branch out like that.
You’re being amazingly condescending to people being abused and guided by the algorithms, acting like you’re above it. You’re not. I actively fight these curated feeds with alternate private browsers and sometimes going as far as using a VPN just to see what something is about, yet it’s not foolproof and there’s a reason ti’s their ein the first place. It’s not just your viewing choices. It’s clear that you get put into various categorizations and the algorithms keep your feed fresh by suggesting content that other people who watched the videos you watched have also watched. You think your science-based category is safe, but it’s not. You’re 3 clicks away from conspiracy theories flooding your feed by way of “here’s how flat earthers explain gravity” because your chosen video, the bridge video, and the conspiracy videos are all using the same keywords. You’re not noticing all the “harmless” unrelated suggested content from the games you don’t play like Factorio, Stardew, Hollow Knight, No Man’s Sky, or Star field but it’s there, just as predatory, seeing where you’ll bite. The overlapping keywords and viewerships are there. It’s exactly the same situation.
This category association is how people get drawn into deep, dark corners. This is how segmented conspiracy groups converge. This is how the manosphere becomes an echo chamber. This is how self-harm and self-hate content puts someone in a hole by themselves. So many users aren’t even aware of how curated their feed is. They come to believe “everyone thinks this” because there’s 100 videos sitting there waiting for them to “freely” choose their next clip.
You’re acting morally superior without an actual understanding of what these platforms are designed to do. They do not give a fuck about your health or morals. All they want is your attention, your addiction, because time spent on their platform is participation taken away from 20 other major platforms.
The problem with tech companies is that they’ve hyped up their tech so much that people actually think it’s sentient. Algorithms don’t love anything anymore than a cake recipe loves anything.
No, I’m being normally condescending which is difficult not to do when people are being pushed around by their computers and phones. It’s like somebody getting manipulated by a light switch. “Oh my god! It knows when I want the light to be on! Get out of my mind!” I’m not acting like I’m above it.
So? I get curious and look at that stuff but I don’t go walled-eyed and start drooling. If I don’t look, it goes away. Or better yet, if it doesn’t go away, I search for videos I’m actually interested in.
This is some weird conspiracy stuff. So Hollow Knight and Stardew Valley is trying to eat my soul? This is the same kind of cryptic talk that people freaking out about heavy metal and DnD in the 80s used.
That and the search bar. Most people who get stuck in that stuff are seeking it out. It’s what they’re interested in.
No, you think these algorithms are way more effective than they actually are. A lot of what you describe happens because algorithms can’t read people’s minds. They’re just dumb machines. Bare in mind that chess AI from the 80s can wipe it’s ass with your face and those mighty algorithms were like 25KB in size. Just 5KB is enough to present challenging AI. This is enough to give the appearance of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde having different personalities.
Eh, never mind. You’ve got it figured out. You are above the algorithm, above the predatory UI, above the ruthless drive by corporations to manifest addiction. Modern platforms are no smarter than 1980s Chess AI and phones are only as manipulative as a light switch. Your suggested media feeds are purely your own making. Carry on.
No no. You’re right. The algae rythmz just got me. I suddenly believe the Earth is flat and I’m going to go eat some Tide pods.
“What’s the Ozman trying to say here, Nicky?”
“John, absolutely nothing. The blizzard always came straight with his messages. But wrap your minds around this, gentleman. Chicago.”
I command you in the name of Lucifer to spread the blood of the innocent!
“Whoa! Chicago kicks ass!”