Summary
Meta is on trial for harming users through addictive design features like infinite scroll and beauty filters. The case challenges legal protections that have shielded social platforms from liability for user harm. If successful, the trial could force big changes in how social apps are built and regulated.
Highlights
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The plaintiff in the LA case is a 20-year-old California woman identified only as KGM, who says she became hooked on YouTube at age 6 and Instagram by age 9. Over time, she developed symptoms of depression and had suicidal thoughts that she attributes to her compulsive use of the platforms. KGM’s lawyers have likened the platforms to a “digital casino,” offering visitors irregular dopamine hits via infinite scroll, autoplay videos, beauty filters, and algorithmic recommendations, among other slot machine-like features.
Casino digital
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With content moderation under attack by President Trump and his allies, and Section 230 an effective shield against content-based litigation against social platforms, lawyers and advocates have begun to focus on the way app design can enable harm. Rarely does any individual piece of content lead to catastrophe. But push notifications interrupt sleep, beauty filters lead to body dysmorphia, and infinite scroll leads to problematic use. Social platforms adopt these features because they increase the amount of time that people spend using them, and time spent correlates directly with revenue earned.
Mecanismos del “casino digital” que explicarían causalmente problemas de salud mental en algunos de sus usuarios.
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All of these efforts are aimed at the same target: platform design choices that harm users on a huge scale, with everyone involved insisting that it’s someone else’s problem.
Parte del proceso de enshittification, en donde se captura a la audiencia y después es muy costoso pasarse a la alternativa. En estas condiciones, las plataformas pueden apretarlos al máximo y siempre tener un argumento para defender su posición, en donde “es culpa de otro”
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After the study was over, people who’d been scrolling “For you” had changed views on current political issues: they were more likely to be against criminal investigations of Trump, and to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The study found users “were 4.7 percentage points more likely to prioritize policy issues considered important by Republicans, such as inflation, immigration and crime.”