Addiction is a business model for large technology companies. After tobacco, a new confrontation between business and public health emerges.
Large technology companies, with some of the best-known social networks, are going through difficult times: they are accused of transform addiction into a business model.
Court documents that were secret now reveal how Social media companies seduce young people and deceive the publicresume o .
Large digital platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, face a growing wave of reviews e legal proceedings – are accused of exploiting dependency mechanisms as a central part of their business model.
It’s a new confrontation between business and public health. In other times, something similar happened with the food industry. tobacco; now internal documents suggest that these companies know for years the risks associated with its products — especially for young people — but chose to maintain profitable practices.
Gabriella hanged herself
A few days ago, the decision of a jury in California, USA, which did something (still) rare nowadays: held Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and Google, owner of YouTube, responsible for the damage caused to a 20-year-old girl who claims to have been addicted to the platforms since childhood. He will receive almost R$3 million – and the amount could increase, because the judge considered that the companies acted with intent.
There is another case, even more striking: that of Gabriella Cusato, a teenager who died. And his death is at the center of a lawsuit against Meta.
According to the family, the platform’s algorithms led the young woman to content related to eating disorders, worsening her psychological state.
Gabriella was an energetic, healthy teenager. But, in its 7th year, received a cell phone – and began to walk in the world of Instagram.
One account, one more, and one more (mostly secret accounts); That’s when the eating disorders. He went to therapy but the problems didn’t stop.
A mother took her cell phone, the teenager locked herself in the room. The next day, it was no longer there.
He hanged himself. At 15 years old.
Now, there are details – no longer secret – about this delicate case, which have become visible in his obituary, in his lawsuit and in court documents.
Parents are convinced that Instagram algorithms led teenage daughter increasingly “into a bottomless hole”bombarding her with contents about weight loss, beauty and eating disorders, according to lawyer Jessica Carroll.
Therefore, the family is suing Meta (owner of Instagram). But this case is part of a broader set of about 1,800 similar lawsuitsonly in the USA.
Center of criticism: operation of algorithms, designed to maximize users’ dwell time.
These systems recommend increasingly engaging — and potentially harmful — content, creating a crowding effect. “snowball” difficult to stop.
For experts and lawyers, this design is not accidentalbut rather a deliberate strategy to increase advertising revenue.
And, taking the recent example shared in this article, the Judicial pressure begins to take effect. These are verdicts that could pave the way for a wave of litigation and structural changes in the technology sector.
Despite the criticism, the companies that own social networks reject direct responsibility. They ensure that they are investing in security and parental control tools.
