A California jury has found Meta Platforms and YouTube liable for contributing to social media addiction, ruling that the companies acted negligently in the design and operation of their platforms.
The verdict, delivered at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, came in a lawsuit filed by a 20-year-old woman who claimed early exposure to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube worsened her mental health and triggered addictive behaviour.
Court filings accused the platforms of “deliberately engineering features that rewired how our kids think, feel, and behave,” fuelling compulsive usage among young users.
TikTok and Snap Inc. were originally named in the suit but settled with the plaintiff before trial. No financial damages were specified in the California verdict.
The ruling follows a separate New Mexico case in which a jury found Meta violated consumer protection laws by designing platforms harmful to children’s mental health, resulting in a $375 million fine.
Neither Meta nor YouTube immediately commented on the California decision.
