Plaintiff's addiction expert faces Meta cross-examination in social media trial
By Mike Swift ( February 13, 2026, 22:44 GMT | Insight) -- Stanford University addiction psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke implicated nine platform features on Instagram and YouTube as potentially addictive for young users during an addictive design trial against social media platforms in Los Angeles. Lembke faced an aggressive cross examination from Meta Platforms challenging her honesty and citing her consumption of graphic sex scenes in vampire romance novels.The algorithms powering Instagram and YouTube, as well as eight platform features including infinite scroll, frequently addicted young, vulnerable users, a Los Angeles jury heard from a Stanford University psychiatrist who faced tough cross-examination from a Meta lawyer later on Friday....
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