The previous psychotherapist of a California lady who’s suing Mr. Mehta’s Instagram and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, alleging that her childhood dependancy to these platforms broken her psychological well being, testified Tuesday that the youth’s use of social media performed a task.
Licensed therapist Victoria Burke appeared as a witness in a landmark civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom that may problem whether or not massive tech firms could be held accountable for the design of apps extensively accused of fueling a youth psychological well being disaster.
Burke was referred to as by the plaintiff’s legal professional, recognized solely as Caylee GM in court docket, to organize for the following section of the trial, which is able to discover whether or not and the way Caylee’s involvement with social media throughout her childhood affected her well being.
Mr. Cayley is scheduled to take the stand Thursday as soon as Mr. Burke completes his testimony.
The lawsuit is a part of a broader international backlash towards social media firms over alleged hurt to youngsters and teenagers. Australia has banned anybody below 16 from accessing these platforms, and different nations are contemplating comparable restrictions. The tech firm denies the allegations and says customers should be at the least 13 years outdated to register.
Burke was working as a remedy trainee on the faculty district when she identified and handled then-13-year-old Caylee for a number of months in 2019.
She advised jurors she initially identified Cayley as affected by generalized anxiousness dysfunction, however later revised the prognosis to social phobia and physique dysmorphic dysfunction.
Burke didn’t conclude whether or not social media straight contributed to Caylee’s adolescent struggles with social rejection, concern of being judged, or anxiousness about recognizing her personal bodily flaws.
However on cross-examination, Burke testified that he believed Caylee’s social media experiences “contributed” to her psychological issues. The therapist stated Caylee usually complained about “bullying” by her friends on-line and recalled at the least one incident through which a lady advised her she had “deleted” herself from a social media web page solely to later come again.
Burke additionally acknowledged that Cayley’s social media use was not fully detrimental, recalling that Cayley stated she favored making video “artwork” that she posted on-line, however was aggravated when others took credit score for her work.
Caylee started utilizing YouTube when she was 6 years outdated and Instagram when she was 9 years outdated, the go well with says, and that these platforms contributed to her psychological sicknesses, together with despair and physique dysmorphic dysfunction.
Her legal professionals accused their consumer of being the sufferer of a deliberate design and enterprise mannequin to draw younger youngsters to marketed on-line providers and revenue from them, regardless of realizing the dangers to their psychological well being.
The launch of the trial centered on what firms learn about how social media impacts youngsters and enterprise methods associated to younger customers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that the corporate had mentioned merchandise for youngsters however by no means launched them. To win Caylee’s case, her legal professionals should present that the best way the corporate’s platform was designed and operated was a major think about inflicting or exacerbating her psychological well being points.
Mehta’s legal professionals stated in opening statements that Caylee’s well being information present a historical past of verbal and bodily abuse and a troubled relationship along with her dad and mom, who divorced when she was 3 years outdated. Cayley’s mom is anticipated to present proof following her daughter’s testimony.
Her personal lawyer identified that in a latest inner survey by Meta, teenagers from troublesome life conditions usually stated they used Instagram habitually or unintentionally.
Her legal professionals argue that options akin to auto-playing movies and feeds that permit infinite scrolling are designed to maintain customers on the platform regardless of proof of hurt to the psychological well being of younger customers. In the meantime, whereas the “Like” button catered to teenagers’ want for approval, the wonder filters distorted their self-image, legal professionals stated.
In court docket filings, YouTube’s legal professionals stated Cayley failed to make use of the platform’s options meant to guard customers from bullying, akin to instruments to take away feedback and restrict the period of time folks watch movies. In court docket, YouTube’s legal professionals cited information exhibiting that Cayley’s common time spent watching YouTube Shorts was about 1 minute and 14 seconds per day, and that the common time she spent streaming YouTube movies over the previous 5 years was about 29 minutes.
Ms. Burke stated she by no means assessed Ms. Cayley’s common day by day social media use time. On Wednesday, she testified that the idea of social media dependancy has not but emerged as a widely known phenomenon in her discipline and isn’t but listed as a prognosis within the newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Handbook, a key textual content for psychological well being professionals in the USA.
issued – February 26, 2026 12:37 PM IST
