The Addiction Factory

Interactive exhibit — Social media by design

In March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for intentionally building addictive platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health. She started using Instagram aged nine. The head of Instagram called 16 hours of daily use "problematic", not addiction.

Below are four interactive pieces. Each one lets you do what they did. Build the machine. Watch the metrics climb. Notice what's big and what's small. Notice what they wanted you to see, and what they didn't.

Based on proceedings: Kaley v. Meta Platforms Inc. & Google LLC, Los Angeles Superior Court, March 2026

Exhibit 01

The Engagement Machine

You are the product designer. Optimise for growth.

Infinite ScrollOff

Autoplay Next VideoOff

Notification FrequencyOff

Like Counter VisibilityHidden

Beauty Filter IntensityNone

Algorithmic AmplificationOff

Quarterly Revenue

$0m

Projected annual: $0m

User harm index

children affected (est.)

Move the sliders. Build your platform.

Exhibit 02

16 Hours

Kaley's longest single day on Instagram. Adam Mosseri called it "problematic".

Time spent: 0:00

Actual time: 0:00

The timer told you 0:00.
You were here for 0:00.

The platform lied. That was the design.
Kaley spent 16 hours in one day. She was a teenager.
Instagram's head called it "problematic". Not addiction. Problematic.

Exhibit 03

The Mirror

Kaley was diagnosed with body dysmorphia. She started using filters aged nine.

Filter Intensity

Likes 0

Preference Score 0%

Comments 0

omg goals

wish I looked like this

what filter is this??

literally perfect

body goals fr fr

this isn't even real is it

Zero likes. Zero comments. Zero preference score.
The real you gets no engagement. That was the point.
Kaley was ten when she started obsessing about her appearance.

Exhibit 04

Design an Addiction

Product strategy meeting. Q4 growth targets. Select your features.

Remove age verification barriers

Enable infinite scroll with no natural stopping point

Autoplay next video immediately

Hide or obscure screen time tracking

Amplify outrage and emotional content in the algorithm

Recommend progressively more extreme content

Make the close button progressively smaller

Push notifications for activity on others' posts, not yours

Deploy beauty filters that alter facial structure

Show like counts publicly to drive social comparison

Projected Daily Child Engagement

0.0hrs

Per user, ages 9-17

Investor Confidence 0%

$3,000,000

A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for intentionally building addictive platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health.

Meta was found 70% responsible. YouTube 30%.

Punitive damages could reach $30 million.

Every feature you just selected? They built it. They shipped it. They knew what it would do to children. Internal research told them. They optimised anyway.

Kaley v. Meta Platforms Inc. & Google LLC — Verdict: 25 March 2026