Meta and Google Found Liable for Social Media Addiction

A jury in Los Angeles has determined that Meta and Google need to pay $3 million in damages in a high-profile trial. The lawsuit accused the two tech giants of creating products that foster addictive behaviors among young users.

In this verdict, Meta is to cover 70% of the awarded amount, while Google will be responsible for the remaining 30%. After nine days of proceedings and roughly 43 hours of jury deliberation, the decision was announced.

The jurors decided on the damages after acknowledging that Meta and YouTube had engaged in “malice, oppression, and fraud.” Additionally, there will be a hearing to discuss potential punitive damages, where all involved can speak for 20 minutes.

A spokesperson for Meta expressed disagreement with the ruling and mentioned that they are exploring their legal options.

The case revolved around a 20-year-old woman from California, known as KGM, who alleged that social media platforms exacerbated her mental health struggles, including depression and suicidal thoughts during her teenage years.

KGM’s lawsuit claimed that the companies behind these popular platforms engineered their designs to encourage compulsive usage among adolescents.

Interestingly, Snap, the parent company of TikTok and Snapchat, was also initially named in the lawsuit but settled prior to trial, leading to a focus on Meta and Google’s YouTube.

Over the course of about a month, jurors listened to defense arguments, witness testimonies, and KGM’s own account. She mentioned using YouTube from age six and Instagram from age nine, emphasizing that she spent “all day long” on social media as a child.

KGM’s legal team highlighted specific features they argue were crafted to “hook” young users, such as endless scrolling, autoplay options, and frequent notifications.

This trial has garnered significant attention as it’s one of the first of its kind to examine whether social media companies can be held liable for potential harm to youth due to their platform designs.

Jurors faced the challenge of determining if Meta and YouTube should have recognized the risks posed to children and whether they were negligent in their product designs, as well as if those designs were a “material factor” in the issues raised in the lawsuit.

In a notable twist, just a day before this verdict, a jury in New Mexico had ordered Meta to pay $375 million for allegedly misrepresenting the safety of its platform and facilitating the exploitation of minors.