Meta, Google Found Liable in First Social Media Addiction Trial
Relatives of victims outside of the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on March 25.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesMeta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google must pay damages to a 20-year-old woman who said her addiction to social media caused her mental health struggles, a jury concluded in a landmark decision that could signal hefty risks for the companies as they fight thousands of similar claims.
Wednesday’s verdict in Los Angeles on the ninth day of jury deliberations shows the difficulty of ascribing how much social media is to blame for youths suffering varying degrees of distress. But it also underscores the potential multibillion-dollar exposure from lawsuits which claim that Instagram, YouTube and other platforms are intentionally designed to addict young users without regard for their well-being.