California Jury Finds Meta and YouTube Designed Platforms to Be Addictive

There could be more settlements of lawsuits alleging that social media companies design their platforms to be addictive following the success of such a lawsuit in a California court on Wednesday (March 25), The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

In this case, a jury determined that Meta and Google’s YouTube were negligent for operating products that harmed kids and teens and failing to warn about the danger, according to the report.

The jury ordered the companies to pay a combined $3 million to the plaintiff, who testified that her social media use as a child contributed to mental health issues, the report said. In addition, the jury determined that the companies should pay punitive damages of an amount that has yet to be determined.

The plaintiff’s lawyers said that the verdict is a referendum on an entire industry and that the “verdict is bigger than one case.”

A Meta spokesperson said: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”

A Google spokesperson said the company plans to appeal, adding: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

The case was able to get around a law that has prevented social media companies from being held liable for content, by focusing instead on the design of the apps, according to the report.

While the jury’s decision in this case doesn’t bind others, it could lead to settlements because both sides have seen how the jury in this case responded to the arguments presented in the case, the report said.

In another, separate case, a New Mexico jury on Tuesday (March 24) found that Meta misled users about the safety of its social media platforms and failed to adequately prevent child sexual exploitation.

In this case, which was brought by New Mexico’s attorney general, the jury determined that Meta violated the state’s consumer protection law and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties.

A Meta spokesperson said: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will 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.”

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a Tuesday press release: “Policymakers and law enforcement officials across the country can help make this verdict a turning point in the fight for children’s safety.”

Addressing the verdict in the California case, Torrez said in a Wednesday press release: “Today’s verdict is another critical step toward justice that puts Meta and other big tech executives on notice that they cannot evade responsibility for design choices that jeopardize child safety.”