A jury in Los Angeles has found Meta and YouTube liable for deliberately designing addictive products that harmed a young user. The panel awarded the plaintiff, identified only as KGM, $6m in damages, with Meta required to pay 70% and YouTube the remainder. The verdict came after nearly nine days of deliberation, marking the first trial of its kind over social media's alleged harm to young people.
During the six-week trial, jurors heard testimony from KGM, now 20, who said she became addicted to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine. She described developing depression and engaging in self-harm by age 10, and later being diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia. Her lawyer, Mark Lanier, argued that the companies engineered addiction through features like infinite scrolling and autoplay, calling the products "Trojan horses."
The jury found both companies negligent and failing to provide adequate warnings about the dangers of their platforms. They returned a 10-2 split verdict in favour of the plaintiff on every question. This verdict comes a day after Meta was ordered to pay $375m in civil penalties in a separate New Mexico case over misleading consumers and enabling child sexual exploitation.
Meta said it will appeal, with a spokesperson stating, "Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app." YouTube also plans to appeal, arguing it is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site. Both companies have consistently denied wrongdoing, with Meta suggesting KGM's issues stemmed from a difficult home life.
KGM's lawyers hailed the verdict as a historic moment for thousands of children and families. The case mirrors arguments from the 1990s against big tobacco, focusing on addiction and corporate knowledge of harm.
