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LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman through the addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay US$6 million in damages and opening the door to potentially far larger punitive awards.
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The jury answered yes to all seven questions on verdict forms for both companies, finding that Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms and that their negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff.
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Jurors also found that both companies knew or should have known their services posed a danger to minors, that they failed to adequately warn users of that danger, and that a reasonable platform operator would have done so.
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“Accountability has arrived,” lawyers for the plaintiff said in a statement.
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For years, social media companies have been shielded from most legal threats thanks to laws that grant them immunity from the potentially inflammatory or damaging content their users post. Wednesday’s verdict changed that calculus. The content on Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube wasn’t the focus of the trial. Instead, plaintiffs attacked the companies’ designs and core functionality, creating a world in which they could continue to get sued unless the products are changed accordingly.
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A separate jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier this week found Meta liable for endangering minor users of Facebook and Instagram.
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In New Mexico, the company was ordered to pay US$375 million in penalties, a verdict it said it would appeal.
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A spokesman for Meta said they “respectfully disagree” with the verdict on Wednesday.
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The panel assigned Meta 70 per cent of the responsibility for the plaintiff’s harm — a US$4.2 million share of the compensatory award — and YouTube the remaining 30 per cent, or US$1.8 million.
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Jurors further found that both companies had acted with malice, oppression or fraud, a finding that sets the stage for a separate punitive damages phase.
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The rulings could ripple across hundreds of pending lawsuits against social media companies facing similar allegations, with the total liability potentially running into the billions of dollars.
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“Bellwether trials like this one serve as signals about how juries respond to specific theories of harm,” said Daryl Lim, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University.
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He added that the verdict “should increase the pressure” on platforms to settle outstanding cases.
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The plaintiff, known in court documents by her initials K.G.M. and identified as just Kaley at trial, is the central figure in a bellwether case that could determine whether social media companies can be held legally responsible for harming children’s mental health.