‘They know the platforms are addictive’: lawyer who led LA case against big tech to advise UK

Matthew Bergman tells Catherine Neilan about sharing what he has learnt about social media dangers and the landmark case against Meta and YouTube

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The crusading American lawyer whose suits against tech giants have the potential to permanently alter the way social media companies behave is to meet British government ministers to share what he has learned.

Matthew Bergman represented a 20-year-old woman who was awarded $6m in damages last month in a landmark case after a jury in Los Angeles found that Meta and YouTube had created addictive products that harmed her. Bergman is representing more than 1,000 other plaintiffs in future cases.

He is expected to meet Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, and Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, as well as backbenchers and peers who have helped the government to commit to a consultation on a social media ban.

Speaking to The Observer ahead of his visit this week, Bergman said he wanted to share his experience with MPs. “What I have learned about these platforms and their dangerous impact on kids, particularly through documents and testimony that we have unearthed, shows they know their platforms are addictive, designed them to be so and resisted efforts to change,” he said.

Documents that were submitted as part of the LA case and have been seen by