Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves a Los Angeles courthouse during a landmark social media addiction trial
Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images
Social media giants Meta and YouTube have been found liable by a California jury for negligence that caused harm to a young woman’s mental health. The landmark decision is one of the first of many similar cases and could be the start of a trend that may force major changes in how social platforms work.
The companies were ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages to cover the plaintiffs’ financial losses related to the events surrounding the case, as well as pain and suffering. The jury has not yet decided on the amount of possible punitive damages – the money the companies would pay as punishment for their actions.
The claim made by the young woman at the center of the trial, known in court documents as KGM, was that the addictive nature of these social media products led to her anxiety and depression, and the jury agreed. The lawsuit originally also involved Tiktok (owned by ByteDance) and Snapchat (owned by Snap), but they settled out of court before the trial began.
This case was not unique: thousands of similar lawsuits have been filed against social media companies across the US, alleging that their products are addictive and harmful. Most of the cases have yet to go to trial, but one in New Mexico was decided on March 24 with a similar result. In that case, the state argued that Meta failed to protect children from exploitation on its platforms, and a jury found the company guilty. Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in damages.
The question now is whether cases like this will lead to substantial changes in the social media products that have been labeled as harmful. In the US, free speech laws have made it difficult to demand any changes on social media platforms – specifically the one called Section 230, which prevents companies from being held responsible for content posted on their platforms by users. But those same laws have made it harder to win lawsuits like these, so this may be a tipping point.
The New Mexico case is moving into a second phase, in which a judge will decide what, if any, changes Meta will need to continue to develop its social media platforms.
A spokesperson for Meta said The new scientist that the company disagrees with the judgments and intends to appeal in both cases. Jose Castañeda, a spokesman for Google, which owns YouTube, said the company plans to appeal the California decision. Several more lawsuits are headed to trial in the coming months, and if this trend continues, it could force sweeping changes in the social media landscape.
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