'The 'engineering of addiction' explained 3 ways Meta and YouTube have
harmed young users, according to the landmark case

Date:
Thu, 26 Mar 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Description:
The science of smartphone addiction, according to the landmark Meta-Google ruling.

OPINION
On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and Google are liable for designing products that are deliberately addictive and failing to warn users about the nature of their products.

This is huge news, a landmark verdict that will inform hundreds of cases to come. While the plaintiff, a 20-year-old identified only as KGM, has been awarded $6m in damages, it's the verdict itself that's most damaging, as it opens the door to many more lawsuits against tech companies. According to a report in The Guardian , KGM testified that "she became addicted to YouTube
at age six and Instagram at nine, which she said had deleterious effects on
her wellbeing". She began self-harming at age 10 and was diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia in her early teens.

KGM's lawyers, in their closing remarks, said: How do you make a child never put down the phone? Thats called the engineering of addiction. They
engineered it, they put these features on the phones. These are Trojan
horses: they look wonderful and great but you invite them in and they take over. Outside the courtroom, families who had lost young people to suicide celebrated the verdict as the beginning of justice. Meta and Google both plan to appeal, stating they "respectfully disagree" with the verdict. Why is it
so hard to put down our phones? Is social media and scrolling really as addictive as substances like nicotine and tobacco? Should we be safeguarding our kids from technology, or is it a content issue to be monitored by
parents, rather than an app design problem? I'll break down the scientific research behind the verdict below.

Children and social media addiction: the effects

While I think it's pretty obvious to any phone user that social media
apps have addictive qualities, there are extra concerns about the effects of heavy digital device use on children's developing brains.

One literature review by Italian pediatrists linked digital addiction in children with depression, diet, and psychological issues, as well as 'sleep, addiction, anxiety, sex related issues, behavioral problems, body image, physical activity, online grooming, sight, headache, and dental care'. KGM
was six years old when she first got addicted to social media, according to
her testimony.

Researchers in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands have also linked 'high social media usage' among adolescents to 'a statistically significant change
in the developmental trajectory of cerebellum volumes', a part of the brain associated with emotional control . It could literally influence the brain's physical development.

Another report says: "frequent social media use may be associated with
distinct changes in the developing brain in the amygdala (important for emotional learning and behavior) and the prefrontal cortex (important for impulse control, emotional regulation, and moderating social behavior), and could increase sensitivity to social rewards and punishments".

However, it's worth noting that none of these findings are yet conclusive.

How social media apps are designed to foster engagement - Below are three ways Meta and Google could have designed their platforms to encourage addictive behaviors, supported by science and quotes from the trial.

1. The dopamine cycle -- In a report by The Guardian , Meta
employees in 2020 are quoted as saying "oh my gosh y'all, IG is a drug" in an email exchange, while a colleague responds, "Lol, I mean, all social media. Were basically pushers."

They're not entirely wrong. The basis of addiction is all about hijacking the 'mesolimbic system', the part of the brain responsible for associating
certain behaviors with rewards, both natural (food, sex, play) and artificial (drugs such as alcohol and nicotine, and notifications). Once a reward is achieved, dopamine is released.

One study on teen addiction linked activation of the mesolimbic pathway to social media use, stating children are "often victims of an unrelenting 'dopamine cycle' created in a loop of 'desire' induced by endless social
media feeds, 'seeking and anticipating rewards' in the way of photo tagging, likes, and comments," the latter being the triggers that continue to
reinstate the 'desire' behavior.

"The overactivation of the dopamine system in such individuals can further increase the risk of addictive behaviors or pathological changes that lead to
a decline in pleasure from natural rewards." Essentially, all you want to do
is keep scrolling, just like an addict looking for an endless fix because natural rewards no longer provide the same pleasure as scrolling.

According to CNN , KGM's lawyer Mark Lanier said in his opening statement: This case is about two of the richest corporations who have engineered addiction in childrens brains, Lanier said in his opening statement. The
swipe, for a child, like Kaley, this motion is a handle of a slot machine.
But every time she swipes, its not for money, but for mental stimulation.

2. The infinite scroll -- Now that a swipe is a
pleasure creation tool, the next crucial tool in social media's arsenal of addiction creation is the infinite scroll: the ability to swipe forever, to continue to activate and hijack the mesolimbic pathway for as long as the
user desires. Likewise, video autoplay on platforms such as YouTube and
Netflix helps remove barriers and pauses, encouraging viewers to continue watching.

KGM's lawyers mention the infinitely scrollable feeds and video autoplay as features designed to keep people on the apps, maintain attention, and
encourage addictive behaviors. But it's ok, because the inventor of the scrollable feed, Aza Raskin , apologized when he unleashed this horror upon
the world.

3. Algorithmically encouraged negative content

Ever heard of 'happy scrolling'? Of course not.

'Doomscrolling,' on the other hand, is named so for a reason. Negativity is more addictive than positive content: one 2024 report by Cambridge University said that "its long been recognized that news-related social media posts that use negative language are re-posted more, so that in turn rewards users who create negative content through greater exposure".

Combine this with the infinitely scrollable feed and addictive, casino-esque nature of social media platforms, and you get doomscrolling, a constant
stream of bad news, enraging user-created content, and messaging that you're never going to be enough unless you do this, or buy that, or look like this .

KGM used Instagram filters on 'almost all' her pictures and 'had not experienced the negative feelings associated with her body dysmorphia
diagnosis before she began using social media and filters,' according to
court reporting by Al Jazeera .

The same scientific report quoted above on brain development also said that
"in early adolescence, when identities and sense of self-worth are forming, brain development is especially susceptible to social pressures, peer
opinions, and peer comparison".

The bottom line? Children are easily impressionable, and if online negativity is more rewarding than positivity, unfettered access to an endless stream of content designed to make users feel worse to increase engagement is going to warp their worldview. According to the jury, in this case, the buck stops at the algorithm's designers.

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/the-engineering-of-addiction-explaine d-3-ways-meta-and-youtube-have-harmed-young-users-according-to-the-landmark-ca se

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