The verdict in a landmark lawsuit over addictive social media design—and a wave of similar cases against Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap—could force Silicon Valley to confront whether its most powerful and “sticky” products are behaving like hard-to-kick drugs.

A landmark verdict is forcing a legal reckoning over whether tech addiction is real and harmful—even as clients at reSTART describe it as a force that has derailed their lives.

The trial was one of several that social media companies face this year and beyond.