Fez — A Los Angeles jury has ordered Meta and Google to pay $3 million in compensatory damages to a 20-year-old woman who alleged she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child, marking the first social media addiction lawsuit to reach a jury verdict.
The jury allocated 70% of the damages to Meta and 30% to Google, finding both companies liable over product design and warnings. A separate phase of the case is expected to determine whether punitive damages will be added and in what amount.
A test case for thousands of claims
The trial is widely viewed as a bellwether for a large wave of lawsuits accusing major platforms of building addictive features that harm young users. Legal scrutiny has focused less on user-posted content and more on design choices such as endless feeds and autoplay.
According to Reuters, the jury concluded that Meta and Google were negligent in how they designed or operated Instagram and YouTube, and that their conduct was a substantial factor in the plaintiff’s mental health harms. Reuters also reported that the jury found both companies failed to adequately warn users about risks associated with the platforms.
The plaintiff’s account and the companies’ response
The plaintiff, identified in coverage as K.G.M., testified that she began using YouTube and Instagram in childhood and later experienced anxiety and depression, describing heavy daily use. The case argued that these platforms encouraged compulsive use and crowded out offline life.
Executives from Meta testified during the proceedings, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri, as the companies pushed back on the idea that social media can be “addictive” in the clinical sense. Coverage of the trial noted that Meta and Google have emphasized safety tools and parental controls, while disputing claims that product design alone caused the plaintiff’s condition.
What happens next
TikTok and Snap were also named in the broader litigation landscape and, in this case, settled before trial, according to multiple reports. The remaining punitive-damages phase could raise the financial stakes, but it may also sharpen legal arguments for future cases.
For policymakers, parents, and the tech industry, the verdict is likely to intensify pressure on how platforms are built for younger users, especially around engagement mechanics designed to keep people scrolling.
