A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable on Wednesday for allegedly using addictive practices that hook children on social media, causing harm and mental health issues.
Jurors handed down the verdict on March 25, the ninth day of deliberations, NBC News reported.
The jury awarded a California woman, known only as K.G.M., a total of $3 million in damages. Jurors said the companies allegedly committed fraud and should pay additional punitive damages. They returned to the deliberation room to decide on an amount.
Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was ordered to pay 70% of the damages and YouTube was told to pay 30%.
Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, criticized the jury’s decision and vowed to appeal.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict,” a Meta spokesperson said after the jury handed down its decision.
Google added in a statement, “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
The lawsuit involved a 20-year-old woman, who testified during the trial that she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at 9 years old.
She told the jury she was on social media constantly as a child, and alleged that the platforms caused depression and suicidal thoughts.
Her attorney argued the social media apps were secretly designed to addict young users, and keep them on the platforms as the companies rake in billions of dollars in revenue.
The tech giants pushed back saying they have safety and parental controls in place to protect children. The case was closely watched by the tech and media industries as similar lawsuits move through the courts.
TikTok and Snap, parent company of Snapchat, were also named as defendants in the lawsuit, but they settled before the trial started.
A jury in New Mexico decided on Tuesday that Meta’s platforms are harmful to children’s mental health and ordered the company to pay a $375 million penalty, the Associated Press reported.
Meta disputed that verdict as well and said it would appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” the company said in a statement.
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