Meta, Google liable for social media addiction: US jury
A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for damages in a landmark social media addiction case that will affect thousands of similar lawsuits against tech companies.
The jury awarded the plaintiff US$3 million ($4.3 million) in damages.
Meta will be responsible for 70 percent of the damage and Google will be responsible for 30 percent.
Then, the punitive damages to be given to the companies will be decided.
Judge Carolyn Kuhl told the court that the jury could consider whether Google or Meta’s products caused physical harm to the plaintiff or whether the companies disregarded the health of other users.
The case involves a 20-year-old woman who says she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age because of their eye-catching designs.
The jury found that Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers.
“Today’s verdict is a referendum on the importance of accountability from the jury to the entire industry,” the plaintiff’s lead attorney said in a statement.
Following the decision, Meta shares increased by 1.0 percent and Alphabet shares increased by 0.2 percent.
A company spokesman said Meta disagreed with the decision and its lawyers were “evaluating our legal options.”
Google plans to appeal, company spokesman José Castañeda said.
Plaintiffs in the Los Angeles case focused on platform design rather than content, making it difficult for companies to avoid liability.
Snap and TikTok were also defendants in the trial.
Both agreed with the plaintiff before the trial began.
Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
Major technology companies in the United States have faced increasing criticism over the safety of children and teenagers over the past decade.
The debate has now shifted to the courts and state governments.
The US Congress has refused to pass comprehensive legislation regulating social media.
At least 20 U.S. states passed laws regarding social media use and children last year, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization that monitors state laws.
The legislation includes bills regulating cell phone use in schools and requiring users to verify their age to open a social media account.
NetChoice, a trade association backed by tech companies like Meta and Google, is trying to invalidate age verification requirements in court.
A separate social media addiction lawsuit filed against tech companies by several US states and school districts is expected to go to trial this year in federal court in Oakland, California.
Another state trial is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in July, said Matthew Bergman, one of the attorneys handling the plaintiffs’ cases.
It will include Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.
Separately, a New Mexico jury on Tuesday found Meta violated state law in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general, who accused the company of misleading users about the security of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and allowing the sexual exploitation of children on those platforms.
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