A jury in Los Angeles has found Google and Meta liable for $3 million in damages in a social media addiction case that could influence similar lawsuits in the United States.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday in a case involving a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram at a young age due to their design features.
The jury held that both companies were negligent in the way the platforms were designed and failed to warn users about potential risks.
Punitive damages are yet to be decided. Judge Carolyn Kuhl said the jury would next consider whether the companies’ products caused physical harm or whether they disregarded the health of users.
“Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived,” the plaintiff’s lead counsel said in a statement.
Following the ruling, shares of Meta rose by about 1 percent, while shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent.
Meta said it disagrees with the decision, with a spokesperson noting the company is “evaluating our legal options.” Google also indicated it plans to appeal, according to spokesperson José Castañeda.
According to reports, the case focused on platform design rather than content, a legal approach that made it more difficult for the companies to avoid liability.
Other companies, including Snap Inc. and TikTok, were initially part of the case but reached settlements with the plaintiff before the trial began. The terms of those agreements were not disclosed.
The ruling comes amid growing scrutiny of how technology companies handle child and teen safety. While lawmakers have debated regulations for years, the issue has increasingly shifted to courts and state governments.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 20 states passed laws last year addressing children’s use of social media. These include measures such as restricting phone use in schools and requiring age verification for social media accounts.
Meanwhile, NetChoice, which represents major tech companies including Meta and Google, is challenging some of these regulations in court.
Further legal battles are expected. A separate case involving several states and school districts is set to go to trial later this year in federal court in Oakland, California, while another trial is scheduled in Los Angeles in July, according to attorney Matthew Bergman.
In a related development, a jury in New Mexico recently found Meta violated state law in a lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general, who accused the company of misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and enabling child exploitation on its platforms.