Addiction is a feature of social media platforms, not a bug, a US court has ruled in a globally significant case. Here’s how to take back control from the algorithm
Last week’s landmark US court ruling may prove to be a turning point in our relationship with the digital world. In a case already being described as a “big tobacco moment” for tech giants, jurors found that Meta, owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, which owns Youtube, had intentionally built addictive platforms that had damaged a young woman’s mental health.
The claimant, a 20-year-old woman referred to in court as Kaley, sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. In the bellwether case, judges ordered the tech companies to pay Kaley $6m (£4.5m) in damages, setting a precedent for thousands of similar cases against social media companies that are waiting elsewhere.
The verdict hits home for many of us because the behaviours described feel so familiar: the endless scroll that keeps us up later than intended at night, the instinctive reach for a phone in any spare moment, the sense of being sucked into a digital distraction machine. They’re not simply bad habits or a lack of willpower; they’re the predictable outcomes of platforms designed to hold our attention for as long as possible.
Tech companies have consistently framed social media as a neutral tool. In this case, Meta argued that any harm was “the result of a complex mix of factors”, with outcomes depending on “individual behaviour, parenting, or wider social factors — not just platform design,” according to The Guardian. Judges disagreed and their ruling challenges that idea head on, suggesting that the design itself plays a direct role in shaping our behaviour, particularly for younger users.
Whilst the tech firms involved are appealing the decision, a broader cultural shift is already under way, with a growing number of countries looking to follow Australia’s lead by banning social media for under-16s.
All of which raises an obvious question: if the apps are designed to keep us hooked, how can we begin to take back control?
Here are seven simple ways to reclaim your attention:
Set a clear daily time limit for your most-used apps, and make it realistic enough that you’ll actually stick to it. Most smartphones now let you track and cap usage, which helps removes some of the willpower from the equation. The key is consistency: treat that limit as you would any other boundary on your time, rather than something to override “just for today”.
Image: Lensabl
Switching your phone to greyscale can dramatically reduce its appeal. The bright colours and notification badges are addictive, and carefully chosen to trigger engagement; muting them makes the experience feel flatter and more intentional. “Without those colours, it’s amazing how it loses its draw,” said the singer Charlotte Church, a greyscale advocate, in a recent Positive News interview.
Image: De an Sun
Notifications are designed to pull you back in, often at the worst possible moment, like bedtime. Turn off push notifications from apps that irritate you or aren’t essential and curate them so that only messages from people you genuinely want to hear from come through instantly. Everything else can wait until you decide to check it.
Image: Cole Keister
Build regular moments into your day where your phone simply isn’t part of the picture; during meals, the first hour after waking, or just before bed. These boundaries help retrain your attention span and reduce the sense that you need to be constantly connected. Over time, they create pockets of calm that make the pull of the endless scroll easier to resist.
Image: Muhammad Abdullah
These aren’t just for children. Setting limits on a device or broadband level can create a backstop for moments when self-control slips. Tools such as Internet Matters and Ask About Games allow users to block access after certain hours or cap usage across multiple devices.
Image: Aedrian Salazar
Out of sight, out of mind: take social media apps off your main homescreen, or off your phone entirely. When apps are harder to access, you’re less likely to open them reflexively. Some people go further by only logging in via a web browser adding just enough friction to turn mindless scrolling into a more deliberate choice.
Image: Daniel Romero
Algorithms respond to what you engage with, so start being more intentional about what you like, follow and linger on. Unfollow accounts that leave you feeling drained, and actively seek out content that’s useful, inspiring or genuinely brings you joy. Reshape your feed into something that serves you, rather than something that simply keeps you scrolling.
Image: Maddi Bazzocco
Main image: Brooke Cagle
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