L.A. jury finds Meta, YouTube liable for social media addiction

Update, 2 p.m.: 

A jury in Los Angeles awarded a 20-year-old woman $3 million in damages, finding that YouTube and Meta’s negligence contributed to her addiction to social media and mental health problems. The verdict Tuesday came on the heels of a separate ruling against Meta in a case brought by state prosecutors in New Mexico.

The jury deliberated for over a week before finding the tech giants were negligent in the design or operations of their social media platforms, the Associated Press reported. The monetary award is expected to grow because the jury found the companies acted with malice and has yet to decide on punitive damages in the case.

The woman, identified as KGM in court records, claimed that use of social media from a young age left her addicted to the technology, and worsened her depression. Other companies in the space—TikTok and Snap Inc., the owner of Snapchat—settled with her ahead of the trial.

Original post: 

New Mexico jury says Meta failed to protect child users

A Santa Fe jury issued a verdict on Tuesday that Meta endangered children by misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms. The parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp violated state law and prioritized profits over safety, according to the verdict. New Mexico became the first state to win a trial against a major tech company for harming kids, according to a Tuesday statement from Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office.

The verdict came after more than six weeks of trial and over two years of litigation. The state presented internal company documents and testimony from former Meta employees showing how Meta’s design features enabled predators to engage in child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million, or about $5,000 per violation, substantially less than the $2.2 billion Torrez’s office initially sought.

Meta executives knew how their platforms harmed children and lied to the public, but this verdict is finally telling the company that enough is enough, Torrez said. The state has one more claim against Meta that will be heard during a May 4 bench trial. The state will petition for the company to pay more damages and enact operational safeguards within the company, according to Torrez’s office.

How has Meta responded? Meta respectfully disagrees with the verdict and will file an appeal, a company spokesperson told WORLD on Wednesday. Meta works hard to keep users safe, and the company has been very clear about the challenges around removing bad actors and harmful content, the spokesperson said. Meta is confident in its record of protecting teens online and plans to continue vigorously defending itself, the spokesperson added.

Any updates on the Los Angeles trial? A Los Angeles jury has been sequestered as it deliberates whether Meta and Google intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive to children. It remains unclear when a verdict will be reached.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in the Los Angeles trial.