Jury holds Meta, YouTube liable for addictive designs harming teen user, awards $6m
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Los Angeles: A jury ruled Meta and YouTube negligent for crafting addictive features that hooked a young user, awarding her $6m in damages—70% from Meta, the rest from YouTube.
After nine days of deliberations in the landmark six-week trial—the first social media addiction case to reach verdict—jurors found both companies failed to warn of risks. The 10-2 decision held their designs a substantial harm factor for plaintiff KGM, now 20.
KGM testified she got hooked on YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine, spiraling into depression, self-harm, body dysmorphic disorder, and social phobia by 13. Strained family and school ties followed, she said.
Her lawyer Mark Lanier blasted: "How do you make a child never put down the phone? That’s called the engineering of addiction. They engineered it, they put these features on the phones. These are Trojan horses: they look wonderful and great … but you invite them in and they take over."
Echoing Big Tobacco suits, plaintiffs targeted infinite scrolls and autoplay as hooks companies knew were dangerous.
KGM's team hailed it "historic," representing thousands: "A jury of [KGM’s] peers heard the evidence, heard what Meta and YouTube knew and when they knew it, and held them accountable for their conduct. Today’s verdict belongs to [KGM]."
Both firms plan appeals. Meta spokesperson said "we respectfully disagree with the verdict … Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app." YouTube's José Castañeda said "this case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site."
Denials persist, YouTube calls claims "not true" and Meta blames KGM's home life.
This kicks off 20+ bellwether trials from 1,600+ California plaintiffs (families, districts) against Meta, YouTube, TikTok, Snap—TikTok/Snap settled pre-trial. Federal cases start June; next bellwether in July.
It follows Meta's $375m New Mexico penalty for misleading on safety and child exploitation.