A Los Angeles jury awarded a victory to a young woman who sued Meta and YouTube for her childhood addiction to social media. According to the BBC, the jurors concluded that Meta, owner of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally created addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year-old’s mental health.
The two Big Tech companies were ordered to pay $6 million in damages, a significant result considering the hundreds of similar cases currently being tried in US courts.
Meta and Google disagreed with the verdict and announced they intend to appeal. Meta stated: “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
Google said: “This case demonstrates a misunderstanding of YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social network.”
Meta and Google were ordered to pay $3 million in damages for emotional distress and an additional $3 million in punitive damages, because it was determined that Meta and Google “acted with malice, oppression, or fraud.” “fraud” in the way the companies operated their platforms.
Most of the trial focused on Instagram and Meta, so it’s no surprise that, of the 6 million, Meta is expected to be responsible for 70% and Google for the remaining 30%.
The Los Angeles verdict came a day after a jury in New Mexico found Meta guilty of how its platforms endangered children and exposed them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators.
Mike Proulx, research director at the consulting firm Forrester, said the consecutive verdicts highlight a “tipping point” between social media companies and the public. “Negative sentiment toward social media has been building for years, and now it’s finally boiled over,” Proulx said.
In February, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Meta, testified in court and claimed that his company’s long-standing policy does not allow users under 13 on any of its platforms. However, internal documents were presented showing that… Meta knew that young children were, in fact, using its platforms.
Kaley’s lawyers argued that Meta and YouTube built “addiction machines” and failed in their responsibility to prevent children from accessing their platforms. Her lawyers argued that Instagram features, such as infinite scrolling, were designed to be addictive.
Kaley said she started using Instagram at age nine and YouTube at age six, and did not experience any attempts to block her because of her age. Kaley said she was 10 years old when she began experiencing anxiety and depression, disorders that would be diagnosed years later by a therapist. “I stopped engaging with family because I was spending all my time on social media,” “I spent all my time on social media,” Kaley said during her testimony.
Kaley spoke about her obsession with her physical appearance, how she used Instagram filters that altered her appearance, shrinking her nose and enlarging her eyes, even being diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder, a condition that causes people to worry excessively about their physical appearance and prevents them from seeing themselves as others do. They see them.
Using testimonies from experts and former Meta executives, Kaley’s lawyers argued that the company wanted young users because they were more likely to stay on its platforms for longer periods.
The executive in charge of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, said that Instagram had no history of filter use. Despite platform usage reaching 16 hours a day, he denied that this was evidence of addiction. Mosseri classified it as “problematic” for a teenager to spend most of their day on Instagram.
Another lawsuit against Meta and other social media platforms for alleged harm to children is scheduled to begin in June in a California federal court.
Snap and TikTok were also initially defendants, but both companies reached confidential settlements with Kaley before trial.
Another digital platform, TikTok, was sued by Ellen Roome after the death of her son. “How many more children are going to be harmed and potentially die from these platforms?” she asked. “It’s been proved it’s not safe – and social media companies need to fix it.”
