An expert witness in a case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said the design features of its social media apps are addictive, likening them to a “drug,” particularly when they affect young people.
The landmark case, in which Torrez accuses Meta of exposing children to “sexual exploitation and mental health issues” through interactions on the platform, continued Tuesday in a New Mexico courtroom with testimony from witnesses.
Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford, told the court that after reviewing thousands of pages of internal documents and reviewing the social media companies’ own research, she determined that the design features of social media were addictive.
The mother of four, who is the highest-ranking person in charge of substance abuse initiatives at the university, defined addiction as “the continued, compulsive use of a substance or behavior despite harm to oneself or others.”
Lembke argued that Meta-deployments “powerful” features, such as Instagram’s “infinite scroll” and personalized algorithms, to stimulate the release of dopamine that “drugs human connection.”
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An expert witness testified Tuesday that social media apps such as Instagram are addictive, comparing them to a “drug,” especially when they affect young people. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
When it comes to social media addiction, Lembke said downstream harms include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, loneliness, suicidal ideation, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation. Children, she added, are particularly prone to tantrums, screaming, threats of self-harm and insomnia.
After reviewing the Meta documents, Lembke argued that the tech giant is aware of social media addiction and has used the term “problematic internet use” internally as a synonym, indicating that the company “works hard not to call it an addiction” or recognize the severity of the problem.
Lembke testified that individuals would rarely be able to identify a social media addiction on their own and would need a qualified therapist to diagnose it.
She explained that a therapist who is uneducated in the area of addiction may spend a lot of time talking about other things or looking for underlying reasons, rather than targeting the addictive behavior.
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New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez accuses Meta of exposing children to “sexual exploitation and mental health issues” through interactions on the platform. (Countess Jemal/Getty Images for Accountable Tech / Getty Images)
After diagnosing social media addiction, Lembke said the identifiers are usually frequency of use, loss of control, cravings and withdrawal, consequences and risk factors.
While adolescents are particularly vulnerable due to brain development, Lembke said anyone can develop an addiction if they are exposed enough.
She added that social media may function neurologically like other addictive substances, especially among young people.
“A child growing up in a family that feels unsupported or verbally abused, it would be natural to turn to a self-soothing mechanism,” Lembke said.
On Monday, a Meta security researcher also warned executives that there could be more than half a million cases of sexual exploitation of minors every day on social media platforms.
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It is unclear whether Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify at the trial. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Citing internal Meta documents, Lembke said the company recognizes that women are more likely to be vulnerable on social media.
She added that through her own clinical work, boys are more likely to play, while girls experience “negative social comparisons”, filter-induced body dysmorphia, and an increased need for validation and approval after seeing idealized bodies and faces that girls feel unable to measure up to.
She further criticized Instagram for providing “frictionless access”, noting that children lie often about their age during the platform’s “ineffective age verification” process, and that its parental controls are too complex for even the most educated parents to navigate.
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Among other addictive qualities of The Instagram appLembke described the notification tool as a powerful feature that “triggers” or induces the desire to return to the platform. She added that the 24-hour time limit on articles creates a “fear of missing out,” or “FOMO,” that forces users to check the platform more frequently.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is expected to be questioned in court on Wednesday.
Eric Revell of Fox News contributed to this report.
