In one of the most important lawsuits for privacy, YouTube has been officially regarded as an 'addictive' social media. A 15-year-old from Florida alleged that the platform's design encouraged addictive behaviour, which contributed to his anxiety, sleep deprivation and other mental health issues. As a result, in June 2026, YouTube settled the lawsuit.
This case is only a small percentage of all cases where social media companies are being sued for inappropriately designing features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, which - the claimants state - are deliberately designed to maximise engagement and keep young users online for longer, thereby making them addictive. So far, there have been over 1,000 similar cases in California alone, and the number of these cases is rising.
Another landmark case earlier this year was centred on how social media companies affect mental health - a young woman was awarded $6 million to after proving that Meta and YouTube had to be liable for the mental health effects of their platforms. In that very same week, Meta was also ordered to pay $375 million in a another child safety case.
The growing number of lawsuits signals an increasing scrutiny of platform design and its addictive features.
