Meta and YouTube have been found liable on all seven counts in a landmark trial in Los Angeles that could shape the future of social media in the U.S.
The verdict comes a day after a similar verdict was reached on a case in New Mexico, where a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for violating consumer protection laws.
In the Los Angeles case, a jury awarded the 20-year-old plaintiff, identified as Kaley or KGM in court documents, $3 million in compensatory damages. After more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, California jurors decided that Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to Kaley, AP News reports.
The jury specifically found that the companies knew their platform designs were dangerous for minors and failed to provide adequate warnings about those risks. Kaley testified that her use of social media as a child, starting with YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9, addicted her to the technology and exacerbated her mental health struggles.
The multimillion-dollar verdict is expected to grow, as the jury decided the companies acted with malice, or highly egregious conduct, meaning the trial will now move into a second phase to determine punitive damages.
Meta and Google-owned YouTube were the two remaining defendants in this case. TikTok and Snap, the other defendants, settled before the trial began.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” Meta said in a statement to AP.
Lawyers representing Kaley, led by Mark Lanier, pointed to specific design features they said were intended to “hook” young users, such as the infinite nature of feeds, autoplay features and notifications. While the defense argued that Kaley’s struggles were tied to her home life and that they provide safety guardrails, the jury focused on whether the platforms’ designs were a substantial factor in her harm.
This case is considered historic as the first of its kind to reach a verdict. Its outcome could affect thousands of similar lawsuits filed against social media companies.
