US jury finds Meta and Google liable in social media addiction trial

A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet's Google and Meta liable for $3 million in damages on Wednesday in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies.



Punitive damages for the companies will be decided next. The jury may consider whether Google or Meta's products caused the plaintiff physical harm or whether the companies disregarded the health of other users, Judge Carolyn Kuhl said in court. The case involves a 20-year-old woman who said she became

addicted to Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers.



"Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived," the plaintiff's lead counsel said in a statement.