A jury in Los Angeles has found Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products that harmed a young user, awarding $6 million in damages. Meta will pay 70% and YouTube the remainder. The verdict, reached after nine days of deliberations, marks the first trial of its kind over social media's alleged harm to young people.
The six-week trial heard from top executives, whistleblowers, and the plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM. She testified that she became addicted to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine, leading to depression and self-harm by age 10. Her lawyer argued that features like infinite scroll and autoplay were engineered to addict children.
The jury found both companies negligent and failing to provide adequate warnings. The 12-person panel returned a 10-2 split in favour of the plaintiff on every question. The verdict comes a day after Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in a separate New Mexico case over child safety.
Meta and YouTube have said they will appeal. A Meta spokesperson said teen mental health is complex and cannot be linked to a single app. YouTube argued it is a responsibly built streaming platform, not social media.
