A jury in Los Angeles has found both Meta and YouTube negligent in a significant trial about social media addiction. The companies now have to pay $6 million in damages to a woman who claimed she was harmed by their addictive features when she was a child.
The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman, identified in court documents as “K.G.M.” She sued Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, arguing that the platforms’ addictive designs caused her harm as a child. TikTok and Snap settled their cases before the trial began.
The jury ordered Meta to pay 70% of the $3 million in compensatory damages, with YouTube covering the rest. The jury also awarded an additional $3 million in punitive damages. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. Google spokesperson José Castañeda also stated, “We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal. This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
This weeks-long trial has been closely watched because it’s the first time a jury has ruled in one of many similar lawsuits. In these cases, plaintiffs argue that social media platforms harmed minors because of how they were designed to be addictive. Meta’s lawyers and executives have consistently denied that social media should be considered an “addiction.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg even testified that the company wants Instagram to be “useful” and accused the plaintiff’s lawyer of “mischaracterizing” his past statements.
Joseph VanZandt, one of K.G.M.’s lawyers, told The New York Times in a statement, “This is the first time in history a jury has heard testimony by executives and seen internal documents that we believe prove these companies chose profits over children.”
For Meta, this marks its second legal loss in just two days. This verdict follows a New Mexico jury ruling against Meta in a separate trial concerning child safety issues. In that case, the company was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties, a decision it also plans to appeal.
