She spent 16 hours a day on Instagram. Jury to decide if Meta is to blame

A landmark lawsuit will set the stage for thousands of people who say social media platforms are intentionally addictive.

Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesHomeNewsUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessWorld of BusinessTechnology of BusinessNYSE Opening BellTechnologyWatch DocumentariesArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindHealthWatch DocumentariesCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthWatch DocumentariesScienceNatural WondersClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroDiscover the WorldLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveShe spent 16 hours on Instagram in a day. It's up to a jury to decide if Meta is to blame15 hours agoShareSaveKali Hays,Technology reporterandLily Jamali,North America Technology correspondentShareSaveReutersPeople attending the trial showed support for Kaley, who is identified only by her first name and initials to protect her privacyKaley would look at Instagram until she fell asleep. She would wake up in the middle of the night to check her notifications. She would open the app as soon as she woke up. One day, she spent 16 hours on Instagram.

"I stopped engaging with my family because I was spending all my time on social media," Kaley told a jury in Los Angeles during a landmark lawsuit against Meta and Google, two of the biggest companies in the world.

TikTok and Snapchat, who were also named in her original suit, settled out of court.

Known only by her first name or initials to protect her privacy, Kaley's story has become the test case for more than 2,000 similar lawsuits looking to hold social-media companies to account for their alleged harm to the mental health of their youngest users.

As the first of its kind, the five-week trial is being watched closely by legal experts and parents who believe their children were damaged, even pushed to suicide, by social media.