California State Court Jury Find Meta and Google Liable for Teen Addiction

A Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable on all counts in a case alleging that the design features of Instagram and YouTube caused a young woman to suffer from depression, anxiety and compulsive use. The verdict followed a seven week trial. The jury awarded the plaintiff three million dollars in compensatory damages, holding Meta liable for seventy percent and Google liable for thirty percent. The jury determined that both companies were negligent in designing or operating their platforms. It found that their negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff's harm. The jury also concluded that Meta and Google failed to adequately warn users about the dangers of using the apps. Evidence at trial included expert testimony that the design features on each platform were capable of causing the types of mental health harms alleged by the plaintiff. The plaintiff's mother testified that she only learned of the dangers of social media from a 60 Minutes program long after her daughter had been using the apps. Both Meta and Google have indicated plans to appeal the verdict. The outcome is expected to influence approximately two thousand pending lawsuits by parents and school districts against social media companies nationwide.