In a decision that marks the first time a U.S. jury has found major social media platforms directly liable for causing addiction and mental health harm to a young user, a Los Angeles court on March 25, 2026, ruled against Meta and Google’s YouTube. The jury determined that the companies negligently designed addictive features on Instagram and YouTube, knew the risks, and failed to adequately warn users, actions that substantially contributed to the plaintiff’s psychological injuries.
The verdict comes amid growing global scrutiny of social media’s impact on youth mental health and follows closely on the heels of another ruling against Meta the previous day in New Mexico, where the company was ordered to pay $375 million for misleading consumers and enabling harms including child sexual exploitation.
The Case: A Young Woman’s Struggle with Early Social Media Use
The plaintiff, identified in court documents as KGM and referred to as Kaley by her legal team, is a 20-year-old woman who began using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine. She testified that she quickly became hooked, posting hundreds of videos on YouTube by the end of elementary school and obsessively using Instagram filters to alter her appearance. By age 10, she was experiencing anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia, which she linked directly to her compulsive platform use. Her former therapist also provided testimony about how social media had become intertwined with the young woman’s sense of self.
Lawyers for KGM argued that features such as infinite scroll, autoplay videos, and push notifications were deliberately engineered to maximize engagement, creating what they described as “addiction machines.” They presented evidence suggesting the companies knew about the potential harms to young users yet prioritized growth. Plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier stated during closing arguments: “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.”
TikTok and Snap Inc. had settled with the plaintiff prior to trial, with undisclosed terms. The case against Meta and Google proceeded as one of the first “bellwether” trials in a consolidated group of more than 1,600 similar lawsuits filed in California, involving families, school districts, and individual plaintiffs alleging harms from addictive platform designs.
Jury’s Findings: Negligence, Failure to Warn, and Punitive Damages
After more than 40 hours of deliberations over nearly nine days, the 12-person jury reached a 10-2 majority decision. Jurors found both Meta (for Instagram) and Google (for YouTube) negligent in the design and operation of their platforms. They concluded that this negligence was a “substantial factor” in causing harm to KGM and that the companies had failed to provide adequate warnings about the dangers.
The jury awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and recommended an additional $3 million in punitive damages after determining the companies acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.” Meta was assigned 70% responsibility and Google 30%, resulting in a total recommended award of $6 million. The final amount will be formalized by the judge. Both companies have stated they will appeal the verdict.
Reactions from the Companies
Meta strongly disagreed with the outcome. A company spokesperson said: “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’s YouTube spokesperson Jose Castaneda (or José Castañeda) responded: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.” The company maintained that the allegations were “simply not true.”
Parents and campaigners gathered outside the courthouse, celebrating the verdict with banners honoring children who they believe were harmed by social media. One parent suing TikTok after her son’s death, Ellen Roome talking to BBC Breakfast said: “How many more children are going to be harmed and potentially die from these platforms? It’s been proved it’s not safe and social media companies need to fix it.”
Forrester research director Mike Proulx described the back-to-back verdicts as a “breaking point,” noting that “negative sentiment toward social media has been building for years, and now it’s finally boiled over.”
KGM’s legal team issued a statement: “Today’s verdict is a historic moment – for KGM and for the thousands of children and families who have been waiting for this day. 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.”
The ruling is seen as potentially influential for hundreds or even thousands of pending cases across the U.S., including another major federal trial scheduled for June in San Francisco and additional bellwether trials in California. It echoes past litigation against the tobacco industry, focusing on known addictive qualities and internal awareness of harms despite public assurances.
What Comes Next
While this verdict represents a significant legal milestone, appeals are expected, and the ultimate financial impact on Meta and Google remains uncertain. The case underscores ongoing debates about platform responsibility, age restrictions, and the need for stronger safeguards for younger users.
This development arrives at a time when governments worldwide are considering or implementing restrictions on children’s access to social media, reflecting mounting pressure for greater accountability in the industry.
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