Meta、YouTube 打官司：手机为什么让人上瘾？

Speaking of phones, let's have a chat.

Do you have a phone?

Do you like looking at your phone?

Many people like looking at their phones.

Looking at your phone is fun.

There are many things on your phone.

There are videos.

There are photos.

There is music.

You can look at other people's photos.

You can watch other people's videos.

It's fun.

But there is a problem.

Some people look at their phones too much.

Way too much.

Five hours a day.

Six hours.

Even more.

They don't want to put down their phone.

They can't put it down.

Why?

Because the things on the phone are too fun.

You watched one video.

Then another video comes.

And another one.

And another one.

You want to stop.

But you can't stop.

What is this called?

This is called "addiction."

Addiction means you want to stop, but you can't.

Xiao Hong is a girl.

She is twenty years old this year.

She has been looking at phones since she was little.

She started watching videos at age six.

Six years old.

Very young.

At nine she started using a software called Instagram.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a place to look at photos.

You can look at other people's photos.

Other people can also look at your photos.

If other people like your photo, they give you a "like."

A like is a little heart.

Xiao Hong really liked getting likes.

If she got many likes, she was happy.

If she got few likes, she was unhappy.

Even at school she wanted to look.

She went to the bathroom to look at her phone.

To see if anyone gave her likes.

She couldn't study well in class.

Because she was always thinking about her phone.

Later she became more and more unhappy.

She thought other people all looked pretty.

She thought she didn't look pretty.

Why?

Because the photos on the phone all looked pretty.

Those photos had "filters."

Filters are things that make photos look prettier.

But filters aren't real.

Xiao Hong didn't know this.

She felt she wasn't good enough.

She was very sad.

She didn't want to play with friends anymore.

She didn't want to talk to family anymore.

She only wanted to look at her phone.

Xiao Hong's mom was very worried.

Xiao Hong went to see a doctor.

The doctor said she had a problem.

She was too sad.

Her heart was sick.

This is called "depression."

Depression means your heart is always unhappy.

Xiao Hong grew up.

She said: This is not my fault.

It's the phone software's fault.

It's the fault of the people who made the software.

They made the phone too fun.

They did it on purpose.

They wanted you to not be able to put down the phone.

The more you watch, the more money they make.

So Xiao Hong went to court.

What is a court?

A court is a place where people decide who is right.

If someone did something bad, you can go to court.

The court will say who is right and who is wrong.

Xiao Hong said Instagram and YouTube did bad things.

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a place to watch videos.

Many people use YouTube.

Xiao Hong said these two apps made her sick.

The court listened to many people talk.

For five weeks.

Then twelve people discussed together.

They discussed for over forty hours.

These twelve people are called the "jury."

They said: Xiao Hong is right.

Those two companies were wrong.

They knew phones would make children unhappy.

But they didn't care.

Because they wanted to make money.

The court said: You must give Xiao Hong six million dollars.

Six million.

That is a lot of money.

The company that made Instagram is called Meta.

Meta has to pay seventy percent.

The company that made YouTube is called Google.

Google has to pay thirty percent.

This matter is very important.

Why is it important?

Because over two thousand more people also want to go to court.

They also say phone apps made them sick.

This is a very big deal.

Something very similar happened before.

Many years ago, there was something called "cigarettes."

Cigarettes are the things that make smoke.

The companies that made cigarettes knew they were bad.

But they didn't say.

Later the court said they were wrong.

Now phone apps are the same.

The people who made the apps knew it was bad.

But they didn't say.

The court said they were wrong.

What does this story tell us?

Looking at your phone is fine.

But don't look too much.

If you feel you can't put down your phone.

If you feel unhappy.

Tell your friends.

Tell your family.

A phone is a tool.

Tools are for people to use.

People should not be controlled by tools.