By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A young woman who is battling against social media giants took the stand Thursday to testify about her experience using the platforms as she was growing up, saying she was on social media “all day long” as a child.

The now 20-year-old, who has been identified in court documents as KGM, says her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

KGM, or Kaley, as her lawyers have called her during the trial, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9.

A turbulent home life

Kaley took the stand wearing a pink floral dress and a beige cardigan and said she was “very nervous” after her attorney, Mark Lanier, asked how she was doing Thursday morning.

Lanier displayed childhood photos of Kaley and her family and asked about positive memories from her upbringing in a quiet cul-de-sac in Chico, California. She spoke of themed birthday parties, trips to Six Flags and her mom’s consistent efforts to make her childhood special.

Still, Kaley’s relationship with her mother was challenging at times. Kaley said most of their arguments were over the use of her phone.

Both the defendants and the plaintiff have pointed to a turbulent home life for Kaley. Her attorneys say she was preyed upon as a vulnerable user, but attorneys representing Meta and Google-owned YouTube have argued Kaley turned to their platforms as a coping mechanism or a means of escaping her mental health struggles.

When asked about claims that her mother had hit her, abused her and neglected her, Kaley said “she wasn’t perfect, but she was trying her best,” and clarified that she doesn’t think she would label her mother’s past actions as abuse or neglect today. Kaley, who works as a personal shopper at Walmart, still lives with her mother in the home she grew up in.

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Notifications gave her a ‘rush’

As a child, Kaley set up multiple accounts on both Instagram and YouTube so she could like and comment on her posts. She said she would also “buy” likes through a platform where she could like other people’s photos and get a slew of likes in return. “It made me look popular,” she said.

Kaley was asked specifically about the features the plaintiffs argue are deliberately designed to be addictive, including notifications. Those notifications on both Instagram and YouTube gave her a “rush,” she said. She would receive them throughout the day and would go to the bathroom during school to check them — something she still does.

Kaley said while she uses YouTube less often now, she believes she was previously addicted to it. “Anytime I tried to set limits for myself, it wouldn’t work and I just couldn’t get off,” she said.

Filters on Instagram, specifically those that could change a person’s cosmetic appearance, have also loomed large in the case and were also a constant fixture of Kaley’s use. Lanier and his colleagues unfurled a nearly 35-foot-long canvas banner with photos Kaley has posted on Instagram. She said “almost all” of the photos had a filter on them.

The jury was also shown Instagram posts and YouTube videos Kaley posted as a child and young teen. One video that tapped into the popular trend at the time, sharing a nighttime routine, showed a young Kaley scrolling on her phone, showering and taking off makeup and then returning to her phone to go on Instagram. Another video showed her saying she was “crying tears of joy” after surpassing 100 YouTube subscribers — but then she quickly turned to her looks, apologizing for her “ugly appearance.”

“I look so fat in this shirt,” the young Kaley says in the video.

Meta has argued that Kaley faced significant challenges before she ever used social media. The company’s lawyer, Paul Schmidt, said earlier this month that the core question in the case is whether the platforms were a substantial factor in Kayley’s mental health struggles. During opening arguments, he spent much of his time going through the plaintiff’s health records, emphasizing that she had experienced many difficult circumstances in her childhood, including emotional abuse, body image issues and bullying.

Kaley said she did not experience the negative feelings associated with her body dysmorphia diagnosis before she began using social media and filters.

Kaley was asked about her peak Instagram usage, which exceeded 16 hours one day. “I just felt like I wanted to be on it all the time, and if I wasn’t on it, I felt like I was going to miss out on something,” she said.

When she tried to stop using the platforms, she said she was often unsuccessful.

“Every single day, I was on it all day long,” she said.

Therapist: Social media and sense of self ‘were closely related’

Victoria Burke, a former therapist Kaley worked with in 2019, testified on Wednesday, and Burke said her social media and her sense of self “were closely related,” adding that what was happening on the platforms could “make or break her mood.”

An attorney for Meta parsed through Burke’s notes from her sessions with Kaley extensively in a cross examination that lasted about three hours. He highlighted Kaley’s negative experiences with in-person bullying, other school-based sources of stress and anxiety and issues with her family. Mentions of social media in the notes were mostly limited to Kaley saying she didn’t feel she had a place at home, at school or among her peers, but did feel she had a place to be seen on social media.

Burke’s treatment of Kaley lasted about six months and that period took place seven years ago.

Platforms dispute addiction claims

The case has been the subject of intense interest among both advocacy groups lobbying for enhanced child safety protections and the tech world alike, with high profile testimony from the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

During Zuckerberg’s testimony, when he was asked if people tend to use something more if it’s addictive, he said “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“I don’t think that applies here,” he continued. He said he believes in the “basic assumption” that “if something is valuable, people will use it more because it’s useful to them.” Mosseri also said he didn’t believe people could become clinically addicted to social media platforms.

The case is expected to continue for several weeks, and the outcome the jury reaches could shape the outcome of a slew of similar lawsuits against social media companies. Meta is also facing a separate trial in New Mexico.

Laura Leffler is the new artistic director at St. Paul’s History Theatre.

Laura Leffler (Courtesy of History Theatre)

Leffler joined the staff in 2022 to produce the annual Raw Stages Festival. She was named interim artistic director in July after Richard D. Thompson surprised staff by stepping down from the position after just two years. At the time, Thompson said he was leaving because he realized his “true passion lies in the creative process itself.”

Throughout her career, Leffler has specialized in creating new works for the stage and new play development, two key goals at History Theatre. She co-founded and was the artistic director for 13 years of the now-sunsetted Savage Umbrella/Umbrella Collective, a collaborative theater ensemble dedicated to social issues, women and LGBTQIA+ theater.

She also served as the associate artistic director of St. Paul’s Park Square Theatre from 2017-2019 and has worked with numerous local theaters, including the Guthrie Theatre, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Children’s Theatre Company and the Playwrights’ Center.

“We’ve put some plans in place since I’ve been in this (interim) position,” Leffler said. “Now that I’m going to be staying on a long-term basis, it feels good to be able to be here to see those plans through. In a way, this is a long game. You make plans that don’t end up rolling out for a year, two years, three years.”

Thompson succeeded Ron Peluso, who retired in January 2022 after 27 years at the theater. At the time, Leffler said she was interested in the position, but there was one catch.

“It crossed my mind, but I did not apply because I was pregnant,” she said. “I was definitely interested, but it was not my moment because I was about to have an infant. I thought as soon as Rick is done being here then I’ll put my hat in the ring.”

Thompson was going to direct two shows in the fall, which left Leffler with the need to find a director for the first show, “Don’t Miss Doris Hines.” She ended up directing the second, “Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical,” herself.

“It was a lot of pivoting,” Leffler said. “A lot of pivoting and trying to keep things afloat and moving forward.”

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One challenge Leffler said the theater is facing is a common one.

“History Theatre finds itself in the same boat as every theater across the country does right now,” she said. “It’s a tough time to be a performing arts, live art medium, especially with the recent (ICE) occupation here in the Twin Cities. Every theater has seen lower turnout to their shows, fewer audiences coming through the doors. When people feel safe and comfortable to come out again, we are excited to welcome audiences back to the theater.”

As for the future, Leffler and her staff are looking forward to History Theatre’s 50th anniversary season in 2027: “The plan is to bring back some beloved pieces from the repertoire, along with a handful of new works. It’s really a showcase and celebration of everything that we’ve done over the past 50 years.”

The public will have a bit more time to weigh in as the Minnesota Department of Transportation considers potential improvements to seven and a half miles of Interstate 94 through Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The public comment period for two environmental review documents related to MnDOT’s “Rethinking I-94” project has been extended to March 23. The comment period for the scoping document and draft scoping decision document, as well as the environmental worksheet, opened Jan. 6 and was originally scheduled to run for 60 days.

Working with consultants, MnDOT has narrowed potential interstate improvements to three options between Minnesota 55/Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis and Marion Street in St. Paul. The three options include maintaining the interstate in its current configuration after pavement and bridge improvements, with consistent bus shoulders for better public transit access; removing a travel lane in each direction; or converting one travel lane in each direction into a managed lane during morning and afternoon rush hours.

More information is online at tinyurl.com/Rethinking9426.

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By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman on probation for stowing away on an international flight has been arrested again after sneaking onto a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Milan, Italy, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter.

Svetlana Dali, convicted in 2024 for flying to Paris without a passport or ticket, was taken into custody Thursday at Milan’s Malpensa Airport, said the official, who was not authorized to disclose information publicly about the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

FBI spokesperson Emily Molinari said the agency’s Newark office was “aware of the alleged stowaway,” but didn’t immediately disclose additional information. The FBI is working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty International Airport, and the Transportation Security Administration “on this open investigation,” Molinari said.

United Airlines, which operated the flight, said it is “investigating this incident and working with the appropriate authorities.”

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Michael K. Schneider, Dali’s federal defender who was also handling her appeal of the prior charges, declined to comment Thursday. He also declined to comment on whether Dali had a mental health evaluation as the terms of her supervised release required.

“I can’t comment on what she’s done since her release. My office is handling the appeal, which is still pending,” Schneider said.

Dali had been convicted in May 2025 on a stowaway charge for slipping past security and airline gate agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York sneaking onto a flight from New York to Paris.

Surveillance video showed Dali, a Russian citizen with U.S. residency, slip in with a group of ticketed passengers to walk by Delta Air Lines staff unnoticed. In court, Dali said she walked onto the plane without being asked for a boarding pass. On the plane, prosecutors say she hid in a bathroom for several hours and wasn’t discovered until the plane was nearing Paris.

After being flown back to New York, she told an FBI agent she had to the leave the U.S. because she believed people who were poisoning her, according to court documents.

Before this latest incident, Dali was still on one year supervised release after being sentenced to time served last July. Among the standard conditions of probation listed is that she can’t knowingly leave the federal judicial district where she was authorized to reside without first getting permission from the court or the probation officer. She was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and participate in treatment if deemed necessary.

Prosecutors have said Dali evaded security measures at two other airports before the JFK incident, and they believe she may have stowed away on another flight.

Two days before she sneaked on the Paris flight, she was able to get through TSA checkpoints at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, by hiding among other passengers. Authorities said she unsuccessfully tried to get on a plane and then left the airport.

In February 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents discovered Dali hiding in a bathroom at Miami International Airport, prosecutors said. Dali was escorted out of the airport after the agents couldn’t confirm her story that she had just arrived on an Air France flight, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said federal agents did not make any findings that Dali had illegally traveled as a stowaway to Miami, but her statements to law enforcement after her arrest in Paris appeared to indicate that she had flown into Miami illegally.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Philip Marcelo in New York contributed to this report.