Local media literacy and mental health advocates applaud landmark social media ruling

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Mental health professionals, media literacy advocates, parents and teens applaud the landmark verdict against social media platforms.

The Los Angeles case that held Meta and Google liable began 3 years ago when the plaintiff was just a teen.

The now 20-year-old said she was under 10 years of age when YouTube and Instagram platforms led to depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia that causes people to focus on perceived flaws.

Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness leader Suzanne Grimmesey said parents can help their children by setting a good example when it comes to screen time.

"It is always good conversations to have with children to understand the negatives that a large about of screen times can have and that is everything from your eyesight to the negativities of just being too connected to that world," said Grimmesey.

Starshine Roshell, who was recently named The California State Advocate for Media Literacy Now, said this holds platforms accountable.

"These lawyers for this case went after the architecture of the platforms; looking at how they are built  and how the algorithms are actually designed to keep us watching and to have consistent scrolling and these beauty filters and all of these different things built into the tool that can really impact the mental health of our students," said Roshell.

She said media comes at kids like a firehose daily, especially those with phone in their pockets.

A section the Communications Decency Act called Section 230 treated social media platforms as publishers that are not responsible for the content that their user's posts.

Roshell calls the young woman at the center of the California case courageous.

"Attorneys put up a 35 foot picture of all of her social media pictures over the years and asked the jury to take a look at that and that was really impactful for them, I think it had a big impact, but I also think that must have been really hard for her to see that," said Roshell.

She said the $6 million penalty is nothing for the tech giants, but the other case in New Mexico is much larger.

That case orders Meta to pay $375 million for failing to prevent child predators on the site.

Media Literacy Now is advocating for the passage of a California Assembly Bill 873 to add digital literacy instruction for students.

Roshell plans to write about it in an upcoming "The Truth Fairy" column in the Santa Barbara Independent.

Radio broadcaster Lisa Osborn co-created Moment of Truth media literacy workshops.

Osborn also noted that social media content flowing across platforms has been shielded by Section 230 that went into effect before Facebook and other platforms were created.

She said now is the time to revise it.

"Now it's been proven, we see tech giant manipulating their users in ways that can be harmful, even deadly," said Osborn, "This jury verdict should be a wake up call to parents and lawmakers to set reasonable guidelines."

A high school senior visiting Santa Barbara to tour UCSB, feels encouraged by the recent court rulings.

Katlinh Do, of Riverside, said just being outside, strolling on State Street with her mother, helps her take a break from social media that can be distressing.

"I really like going out and I feel like it is good to take a break from social media because I personally don't think it is good for me, I feel a lot of the time I end up obsessing the detail because of it," said Do.

She know nature and the outdoors are good for mental health.

Even though the tech companies plan to appeal, these high profile cases could convince them to change how they do business.