A California jury found Meta and YouTube guilty of offering an environment on their platforms that drove youth to become addicted. The trial is one of thousands where teens and their families sought justice for the platforms’ algorithms addicting youth.
The jury ruled Meta and YouTube must pay $3 million in damages caused to K.G.M., a now-20-year-old who brought the lawsuit against the companies. She was later identified only as Kaley in court documents and proceedings. The payout could grow as the jury hears new evidence for punitive damages.
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According to The Associated Press, the platforms were held negligent in the design of their platforms that pushed young people to become addicted to their use. Meta is the corporate owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Alphabet owns YouTube.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” a Meta spokesperson told Straight Arrow News. The spokesperson added that the $3 million verdict wasn’t unanimous.
“We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal,” Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, told Straight Arrow News. “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
Meta’s lawyers argued that it was instead Kaley’s mental health struggles that affected her life and not her social media use, The Associated Press reported. For Google, YouTube established itself as a video platform and not a social media website, and noted that Kaley’s usage declined as she got older.
The California courts set the case as a bellwether, meaning the guilty verdict could help decide what will happen in more than 1,600 other related cases. In those, they each assert social media giants Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat caused or worsened mental health issues in the teens.
Several weeks before the verdict, Kaley testified about how she became addicted to the platforms. According to Courthouse News Service, Kaley said the platforms made her give up her hobbies and interests.
“I just can’t be without it,” she said in February.
Harvard University professor Glenn Cohen said in a Feb. 27 Harvard Gazette interview that the case didn’t focus on the content present on the platforms. Instead, the case focused on how the platforms are designed with features like infinite scroll to incentivize users to remain on them.
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act meant that tech companies could not be held legally liable for content posted on their sites.
He added that the cases could prompt widespread regulation of social media companies akin to what’s seen in the United Kingdom, European Union and Australia.
“Notwithstanding the fact that social media companies are good at lobbying,” Cohen told the Gazette, “there’s a real chance that some of the stuff that will be revealed in the course of these trials may change the average American’s relationship with social media companies.”
Zuckerberg, Kaley testify about social media use
Meta and Google remained on the docket after Snapchat owner Snap and TikTok settled in January, The Associated Press reported. The companies didn’t disclose the sum they paid.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in the trial, denying his company sought to increase users’ screen time, according to Courthouse News Service. He noted that Facebook and its associated websites were built to bring positive value to people’s lives so they will enjoy using them.
People using Meta websites at higher rates was just a measure of the tech giant’s success.
“If you make your product better, then people will use it more,” Zuckerberg said.
Kaley started on YouTube at 6 years old and had made 240 videos by the time she was 10. She recounted creating other YouTube channels to add more “likes” and comments to her videos to help boost the original channel’s appeal.
If her videos attracted few likes, she testified that she felt “stupid or silly.” To add, she received negative comments on her content, some of which she called bullying, but still felt it was better to remain on the website than leave.
Kaley progressed to Instagram and created an account at 9 years old, unbeknownst to her mother, and quickly became enthralled with it. She said she used it every day after school and before bedtime to keep up with friends. At one point, her screen time on the website amassed 16 hours.
Both YouTube and Instagram forbid users younger than 13 from creating an account unless the account is directly managed by an adult.
