Dispute Over Screen Time
YouTube’s legal team told jurors the plaintiff averaged roughly 29 minutes per day on the platform between 2020 and 2025. Of that time, about four minutes reportedly resulted from autoplay and approximately one minute per day from Shorts usage.
If the 29-minute daily average is accurate, that would total about 10,585 minutes annually. Dividing the ad total across that viewing time suggests roughly 1.6 ads per minute.
Lanier has argued that the numbers raise questions about the accuracy of YouTube’s time-tracking data and indicated he intends to revisit the issue during continued proceedings.
A YouTube spokesperson did not immediately comment on the specifics of the document discussed in court.
Broader Allegations Against Social Media Platforms
The bellwether trial is the first in a series of cases consolidated before Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl. The outcome could influence settlement discussions in thousands of related lawsuits.
The plaintiffs claim that major platforms deliberately incorporated features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and algorithmic reward systems that encourage prolonged engagement among minors. Companies deny the allegations.
TikTok and Snap have reportedly resolved claims with this particular plaintiff, though broader consolidated cases remain active.
Pretrial rulings narrowed the issues jurors will consider. The focus is not on third-party content posted to the platforms, but rather on whether the platforms’ design features themselves are addictive or negligently implemented. The companies face claims including failure to warn, negligence and concealment.
