A Los Angeles jury has found tech companies YouTube and Meta guilty of negligence in a high-profile case brought by a young woman who claimed she developed an addiction to their platforms from an early age
The jury awarded her $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta bearing 70 percent of the responsibility. They also ruled that both firms may be subjected to additional punitive damages, with a separate decision on that still pending.
Filed in 2023, the lawsuit argued that platforms like Instagram were intentionally engineered to be addictive, especially for younger users. Court documents revealed that the plaintiff started using YouTube at just six years old and joined Instagram at nine.
In court, a therapist who treated her testified that extended exposure to social media played a role in severe mental health struggles, including social anxiety and issues related to body image.
Both Meta and YouTube have pushed back against the verdict. Meta insisted that teenage mental health is shaped by various influences and cannot be blamed on a single platform, while YouTube maintained that its service is not designed to be addictive.
Legal analysts believe the companies will challenge the ruling, potentially leading to a major legal showdown that could redefine how responsibility is assigned to tech platforms in protecting young users.
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