L.A. Jury Finds Meta and YouTube Negligent in Social Media Addiction Case

A Los Angeles, California jury found Meta/Instagram and Google/YouTube liable for negligence in a monumental social media addiction trial, ordering them to pay $3 million in compensatory damages to Kaley G.M., the 20-year-old plaintiff, who claimed their social media platforms addicted her, and contributed to years of mental health struggles.

This ruling could have significant implications for similar lawsuits against tech companies nationwide, in the ongoing scrutiny of social media companies and their impact on the mental health of minors.

Kaley G.M. alleged that her addiction to Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube began in childhood.

She reported that her use of these social media platforms contributed to serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia.

The jury determined that both Meta and Google/YouTube were negligent in their design and operation of their platforms, and awarded Kaley G.M. $3 million in compensatory damages.

And less than two hours after they awarded her the $3 million in compensatory damages, the jury returned with a recommendation of an additional $3 million in punitive damages against Meta of $2.1 million, and $900,000 against Google/YouTube, bringing the judgment in at $6 million total.

The jury found that Meta and Google/YouTube knew the design or operation of their platforms was dangerous or was likely to be dangerous when used by a minor. They also agreed that the platforms failed to adequately warn of that danger, further contributing to the plaintiff’s harm, the Associated Press reported.

“Meta argued that Kaley’s mental health struggles were not connected to her social media use and pointed to her turbulent home life. Meta also said “not one of her therapists identified social media as the cause” of her mental health issues. But the plaintiffs did not have to prove that social media caused Kaley’s struggles — only that it was a ‘substantial factor’ in causing her harm.”

Notably, YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan and other tech bosses from Bill Gates to Mark Cuban restrict their children’s social media and smartphone use.

That is significant in that plaintiffs attorneys told jurors to substitute methamphetamine for YouTube, and described social media as a “gateway drug.”

This verdict could set a precedent for over a thousand similar lawsuits against social media companies across the United States, and shows the need for strict accountability in how these platforms operate and effect young users, and particularly as this case proved social media algorithms are able to capture and control the attention of young people, to their own detriment.

Google spokesperson Jose Castañeda said the verdict misrepresents YouTube “which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

A Meta spokesperson said teen mental health is “profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.”

Both companies said they will appeal.

TikTok and Snap were also named in the lawsuit, but settled with Kaley G.M. before the trial began.

The Globe anticipates that this case will set a precedence for thousands of other cases against social media platforms.