Jury Hears Closing Arguments in Social Media Addiction Trial

The plaintiff says algorithms prey on vulnerable youth, while companies say family circumstances and genetics drove the woman’s struggles.

Survivor parents, family members, and lawyers gather outside Los Angeles Superior Court on March 12, 2026, as a trial examines whether social media companies deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to children. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

After nearly five weeks of evidence, a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 12 heard final pleas in a landmark civil trial considering whether social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to addict young people despite known harms.

In his closing arguments, plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier likened defendants Instagram and YouTube to lions stalking wounded gazelles on the Serengeti, figuring out who will be dinner, an image of the same suspended on a large monitor beside the witness stand.