Meta and Google's YouTube found liable in landmark social media addiction trial
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The news: A Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google's YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that could shape thousands of similar cases across the US.
The bellwether case involves a 20-year-old who said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design.
Co-defendants Snap and TikTok both settled with the plaintiff, Kaley GM, before the trial began on undisclosed terms.
The numbers: The trial, which began last month, saw the jury deliberate for nine days before awarding USD3 million ($4.3 million) in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, with Meta liable for 70% and Google's YouTube for 30%, according to US media. Punitive damages are yet to be determined.
Meta said it was evaluating its legal options.
The share prices of both companies showed no clear reaction to the verdict. Shares of Meta rose 1% and Alphabet traded slightly higher.
The context: The plaintiff alleged that features including infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations on Instagram and YouTube had caused her anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.
By focusing on platform design rather than content, her legal team sidestepped the federal shield under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that has historically protected social media companies from liability.
A separate case brought by several states and school districts is expected to go to trial later this year in a federal court in Oakland, while another state trial covering Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat is slated to begin in Los Angeles in July.
A day earlier, a New Mexico jury separately found Meta violated state law in a suit brought by the state's attorney general, who accused the company of misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and of enabling child sexual exploitation on those platforms.
The verdict came on the same day US President Donald Trump named Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with 12 other industry figures to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a body that in previous administrations has consisted mainly of academics and engineers.
What they said: “This is a breakthrough because it validates a new theory that platform design can be a defective product,” Kimberly Pallen, a litigation lawyer who does not have clients in the cases told The New York Times.
Joseph VanZandt, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers said: “This is the first time in history a jury has heard testimony by executives and seen internal documents that we believe prove these companies chose profits over children.”
The sources: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg
