Social Media Addiction: Meta Faces U.S. Lawsuit as Chile Leads in Teen Screen Time

A landmark lawsuit against Meta in the United States, accusing the company of deliberately designing addictive platforms for children and adolescents, could signal a significant shift for the social media industry. Pedro Anguita, a lawyer and academic at the Universidad de Los Andes, suggested the trial might represent a "turning point."

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it will mark a turning point (...) If in the U.S., where these platforms are headquartered, they start demanding design changes, there will be major transformations for the industry.

"If in the U.S., where these platforms are headquartered, they start demanding design changes, there will be major transformations for the industry," Anguita explained. He noted that recent court rulings in the U.S. have favored plaintiffs in collective actions, focusing on the addictive design of social media rather than its content.

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all the lawsuits that have been ruled on this year point to the addictive design of the networks, not the content, and the courts in the U.S. have sided with the plaintiffs.

While Anguita welcomed Chile's recent ban on cell phones in schools, he highlighted a concerning OECD study. Published in late July, the study found that Chile has the highest screen time exposure among 15-year-olds, averaging 6.4 hours per day. This figure represents "a third of the day" that adolescents could otherwise spend on sports, play, or study.

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a third of the day, time that they should spend doing sports, playing, studying or doing some physical recreational activity, and these children are looking at the screen.

Anguita urged a proactive approach to this "grave issue," acknowledging the government's efforts to draft a bill for age verification on platforms. However, he cautioned that legislation alone may not suffice, particularly when parents provide devices to children without supervision. He stressed the need for public awareness campaigns to address the serious implications for future generations.

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take the bull by the horns, because it is a serious matter.