Today is the first class of our new March class period. There will be four classes in this study period. Our class will start with our casual conversation. Next, we will complete our speaking prompt. Our reading this week is a personal essay about incarceration. Our listening a social media legal case. We will finish class with shared wisdom.

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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, will probably get some uncomfortable questions today.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

He testifies in a state court trial in Los Angeles over social media. The case centers on whether social media companies are legally responsible for young people if they become addicted to products like Instagram and Facebook.

INSKEEP: NPR's Bobby Allyn will be covering Zuckerberg's testimony. Hi there, Bobby.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: I think it's pretty obvious to a lot of parents and even a lot of kids that the phone is addictive and that social media platforms are addictive on the phone. So what is at issue with this trial?

ALLYN: That issue is whether social media companies are legally culpable for social media addiction, and this is why Zuckerberg will be taking the stand. He's defending exactly against that allegation and, in particular, the allegation that Instagram was deliberately designed to hook young people. So the trial so far has focused on whether Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube should be considered defective products for unleashing into the world all sorts of features that we all know by now, like infinite scroll. You keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, auto-playing features, being able to like posts. So the lawyers battling the tech company say the apps are like digital casinos. They argue that Instagram and YouTube affect kids' brains no differently than a slot machine. So Zuckerberg will likely argue that there are many safeguards in place to protect children and that the company has not placed profits over child safety.

INSKEEP: Who are the plaintiffs here, the people suing Meta and Google?

ALLYN: Yeah. It's someone identified by her first name, Kaley. She and her mother are accusing the tech companies of causing all sorts of mental health issues to her, like anxiety and depression. She struggled with body image issues. A big debate in court so far has been whether social media caused these issues, or if they were preexisting and social media just made them worse. And while this is just one person's story, this case is tied to 1,600 other pending cases filed by families, school districts and others. And all these suits allege that social media apps downplayed the harms that platforms could cause young people and that there have not been enough checks in place to prevent young people from these harms as they've been scrolling. And legal experts, Steve, have compared these cases to the litigation of the 1990s against big tobacco that led to big changes in accountability.

INSKEEP: I feel that we've had interviews and stories about social media addiction, body issues and a variety of other things for at least a decade, maybe more. Why has it taken so long to get a case like this to trial?

ALLYN: Yeah. The wheels of justice turn slowly, don't they? But for years, social media companies have used a legal shield known as Section 230 to avoid all sorts of legal consequences of what people post to their sites. It's been described as an impenetrable fortress for Silicon Valley. But in recent years, plaintiffs' lawyers have gotten pretty creative, and they are now suing tech companies under product liability law to say, you know what? These platforms are essentially defective products, like a defective car or a defective toaster, and that Meta and Google - so the equivalent of a manufacturer - should be held liable.

This theory has been so strong that it's - you know, it's made its way to this big trial, but the cases have been playing out for years, and the trial's expected to be quite lengthy. Even after Zuckerberg's testimony today, there will be many more weeks of testimony from company officials, addiction experts, family members and others. And if a jury sides with the families, this case could result in a multibillion-dollar settlement and big changes to how social media apps operate. So, Steve, we will be awaiting the verdict.

INSKEEP: I'll be awaiting your coverage, Bobby. Thanks so much.

ALLYN: Thanks, Steve.