| Sumario: | The article focuses on the concept of Internet addiction, highlighted by a 2026 Los Angeles jury verdict holding Meta and Google liable for damages linked to a young woman’s mental health issues attributed to compulsive social media use. It traces the history of Internet addiction research, beginning with Kimberly S. Young’s 1998 study that likened compulsive Internet use to impulse-control disorders such as pathological gambling, while noting that Internet addiction remains absent from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The article discusses how modern social media platforms are deliberately engineered with features like infinite scroll and variable social rewards to maximize user engagement, particularly affecting adolescents who are developmentally vulnerable. It also addresses the diagnostic challenges due to overlapping terminology and lack of standardized criteria, emphasizing the need for multifaceted interventions and ongoing societal dialogue about the commercial design of digital environments and their impact on mental health.
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