YouTube Is NOT Social Media

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[Then in more news] YouTube is NOT a social media platform. That’s what the company’s own lawyers argued during the kickoff a massive, landmark trial that could revolutionize social media and cost tech giants billions of dollars.

Right, the case in question centers around a now 20-year-old woman — identified by her initials, KGM — who accused Meta and YouTube of building addictive platforms that hooked her at a young age and hurt her mental health. Now, notably here, while the current suit only names Meta and YouTube, it did initially include Snap and TikTok as well — but they were able to avoid the trial after reaching settlements under undisclosed terms.

But, as for the specifics here, the suit alleges that Meta and YouTube made calculated design choices — like infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations — to make their apps more addictive to kids and to boost their own profits.

And during the trial, KGM’s lawyer claimed that Meta and YouTube are just “digital casinos” intentionally designed to get children and teens addicted. Claiming that the two platforms “have engineered addiction in children’s brains,” and arguing that tech executives knew the risks, and adding: “They didn’t just build apps, they built traps. They didn’t want users, they wanted addicts.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, you had lawyers for the tech companies claiming that KGM’s mental health issues were caused by her difficult family life, not social media. Denying the allegations that their products intentionally harm children, noting a number of safeguards they have enacted in recent years, and arguing that there’s no scientific evidence to prove that their apps cause addiction. With them also claiming that federal law makes it so they aren’t liable for content posted on their platforms.

And during the proceedings yesterday, we saw YouTube’s lawyers trying to separate themselves from Meta, making the bold claim that the platform isn’t a form of social media.
Arguing that YouTube is actually an entertainment platform that more closely resembles sites like Netflix than social networks like Facebook, and claiming that it's different because people use it for streaming helpful videos, not endless scrolling.
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Produced by: Cory Ray, Philip DeFranco
Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry
Art Department: William Crespo
Writing/Research: Lili Stenn, Philip DeFranco
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#YouTube #Meta #Tech