California Jury Finds Meta, YouTube Liable for Harming Young Woman$3 Million Award, Punitive Damages Next

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman through the addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay $3 million in damages and opening the door to potentially far larger punitive awards.

The Verdict

The jury answered yes to all seven questions on verdict forms for both companies, finding that:

• Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms

• Their negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff

• Both companies knew or should have known their services posed a danger to minors

• They failed to adequately warn users of that danger

• A reasonable platform operator would have done so

“Accountability has arrived,” lawyers for the plaintiff said in a statement.

A spokesman for Meta said they “respectfully disagree” with the verdict.

The Allocation

The panel assigned:

• Meta: 70% responsibility  $2.1 million

• YouTube: 30% responsibility  $900,000

Jurors further found that both companies had acted with malice, oppression, or fraud a finding that sets the stage for a separate punitive damages phase.

The Plaintiff

The plaintiff, known in court documents by her initials K.G.M. and identified as just Kaley at trial, is the central figure in a bellwether case that could determine whether social media companies can be held legally responsible for harming children’s mental health.

Kaley began using YouTube at six, downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss and an online kids game. She joined Instagram at nine, getting around a block her mother had put in place.

She told jurors that her near-constant social media use “really affected my self-worth,” saying the apps led her to abandon hobbies, struggle to make friends, and constantly measure herself against others.

The Arguments

In closing arguments, plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier cast the case as a story of corporate greed. He argued that features including infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, notifications, and like counts were engineered to drive compulsive use among young people.

Meta and YouTube maintained that Kaley’s mental health struggles had nothing to do with their platforms.

Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt highlighted her turbulent relationship with her mother, playing jurors a recording that appeared to capture her mother yelling and cursing at her.

YouTube disputed how much time Kaley actually spent on its platform, with its attorney telling the court that usage records showed she averaged little more than a minute a day on the very features her lawyers called addictive.

The jury rejected both defenses across all seven questions on each verdict form.

The Bottom Line

The jury spoke: Meta and YouTube are liable. The damages are $3 million. Punitive damages are next.

Kaley’s case is a bellwether. The outcome could shape whether social media companies face legal accountability for harming children’s mental healthand what that accountability looks like.

{Source: IOL}

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