Meta, YouTube Held Liable in Social Media Addiction Trial
A Los Angeles jury awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old plaintiff in the first bellwether case from wider California litigation over harm to minors.
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A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube liable for harming a 20-year-old woman through addictive platform design, handing down a $6 million award in a closely watched case that could shape thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies.
Jurors assigned 70% of the damages to Meta and 30% to Google.
The plaintiff, Kaley G.M., said compulsive use of YouTube and Instagram contributed to depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia.
Jurors found the companies negligent in designing or operating the platforms and said they failed to give adequate warnings about the risks. They also found malice, oppression or fraud, leading to a punitive-damages phase.
The verdict is the first bellwether trial in broader California litigation involving about 2,500 plaintiffs who have sued Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap over claims that social media products were designed to harm minors.
TikTok and Snap settled with this plaintiff before trial, though both remain defendants in the wider proceedings.
The trial drew testimony from Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who defended Instagram as “a good thing that has value in people’s lives,” according to AP.
During the case, Kaley testified that social media had become a daily obsession. “I can’t, it’s too hard to be without it,” she said.
Her lawyer, Mark Lanier, said the verdict was the first of its kind in the US and would matter to a generation of young users affected by social media.
Meta and Google said they would appeal.
Meta said it disagreed with the verdict and argued that teen mental health is complex and cannot be tied to any single platform.
Google said the case misunderstood YouTube, which it described as a responsibly built streaming platform rather than social media.
Defense lawyers argued that Kaley’s mental health problems stemmed from other factors, including family difficulties and a learning disability, rather than the apps alone.
Google also argued that her use of YouTube peaked when she was younger and later declined.
After seven days of deliberations, the jury sided with the plaintiff.
