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An expert witness in a case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, testified that the design features of its social media apps are addictive, likening them to a “drug,” especially when affecting youth.
The landmark case, in which Torrez accuses Meta of exposing children to “sexual exploitation and mental health harm” through interactions on the platform, continued in a New Mexico courtroom Tuesday with witness testimony.
Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and Stanford professor, told the court after reviewing thousands of pages of internal documents and reviewing social media companies’ own research, she determined the design features of social media are addictive.
The mother of four, who is the highest ranking person overseeing addiction initiatives at the university, defined addiction as “the continued, compulsive use of a substance or a behavior despite harm to self or others.”
Lembke argued that Meta deploys “potent” features, such as Instagram’s “infinite scroll” and tailored-for-you algorithms, to stimulate dopamine release that “drugifies human connection.”
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With social media addiction, Lembke said downstream harms include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, loneliness, suicidal ideation, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation. Children, she added, are especially prone to rage attacks, screaming, threats of self-harm and insomnia.
After reviewing Meta documents, Lembke argued that the tech giant is aware of social media addiction and has used the term “Problematic Internet Use” internally as a synonym, indicating that the company is “working hard not to call it addiction” or acknowledge the gravity of the issue.
Lembke testified that individuals would rarely be able to self-identify a social media addiction and would require a skilled therapist to diagnose it.
She explained that a therapist who is not educated in the field of addiction may spend a lot of time talking about other things, or looking for underlying reasons, rather than targeting the addictive behavior.
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Having diagnosed people with social media addiction, Lembke said identifiers are typically frequency of use, loss of control, cravings and withdrawal, consequences and risk factors.
While adolescents are particularly vulnerable due to brain development, Lembke said anyone can develop an addiction with enough exposure.
She added social media can function neurologically like other addictive substances, especially in youth.
“A child growing up in a family not feeling supported or verbally abused, it would be natural to turn to a self-soothing mechanism,” Lembke said.
On Monday, a safety researcher for Meta also warned executives that there may be upward of half a million cases of sexual exploitation of minors every day on social media platforms.
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Citing Meta’s internal documents, Lembke said the company acknowledged that females are more likely to be vulnerable to social media.
She added that through her own clinical work, boys are more prone to gaming, while girls experience “negative social comparisons,” body dysmorphia driven by filters, and a heightened need for validation and approval after viewing idealized bodies and faces girls feel unable to measure up to.
She further criticized Instagram for providing ‘frictionless access,’ noting that children often lie about their age during the platform’s ‘ineffective age verification’ process, and that its parental controls are too complex for even well-educated parents to navigate.
Among other addictive qualities of Instagram’s app, Lembke described the notification tool as a potent feature that ‘triggers’ or induces cravings to return to the platform. She added that the 24-hour time limit on stories creates a “fear of missing out,” or “FOMO,” which compels users to check the platform more frequently.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is expected to be questioned in court Wednesday.
Fox News’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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