A staggering 86% of Americans say Meta and Google should be held accountable for their alleged role in a social media addiction crisis harming kids — just as Mark Zuckerberg prepares to take the stand in a courtroom showdown that could rock Big Tech.
The bombshell figure comes from a new YouGov survey conducted Feb. 11–13 among 1,000 respondents.
The results drop as Zuckerberg gears up to testify Wednesday in a landmark California trial accusing Facebook, Instagram and YouTube of deliberately designing products to hook young users to boost profits.
According to the poll, once Americans learned about evidence aired in court — including claims that tech giants buried internal research linking their platforms to anxiety, depression, eating disorders and suicidal ideation — support for accountability surged to near universal levels.
Even more ominous for Washington: 67% of voters said they’d be more likely to support lawmakers who back crackdowns on “dangerous social media features” like infinite scroll, relentless notifications, and so-called predatory algorithms.
The Tech Oversight Project, which commissioned the survey, called the case a “watershed moment” with real legal teeth.
“For the first time, Meta is in the prone position of having to produce documents under court order — with actual legal penalties on the line,” said executive director Sacha Haworth. “This isn’t a consequence-free zone.”
The trial, which began Feb. 9 and is expected to run into March, centers on claims that social media giants knowingly engineered addictive features to maximize engagement — especially among teens.
The lead plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified only as “Kaley” or “KGM,” alleges Instagram and YouTube trapped her in a spiral of compulsive use that fueled depression and suicidal thoughts.
Her attorney, Mark Lanier, told jurors the case was as “easy as ABC” — standing for “addicting the brains of children.”
Meta and Google deny the allegations and argue that personal factors — not product design — drove the plaintiff’s struggles.
But newly unsealed internal documents have added fuel to the fire.
Among the revelations cited in court:
- A 2017 internal message referencing Zuckerberg’s interest in targeting users under 13 — prompting one employee to call the effort “gross.”
- Research slides acknowledging that users sensitive to social rewards might use Facebook more compulsively.
- Internal discussions about maximizing how often teens open Instagram.
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