Plaintiff awarded $6M in landmark social media lawsuit against Google, Meta
· Toronto Sun
Meta and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have been found liable in a landmark lawsuit brought forward by a woman who sued the tech giants for mental harm allegedly caused by her addiction to social media.
On Wednesday, a 12-person jury in Los Angeles awarded the 20-year-old plaintiff, identified only as Kaley GM, $3 million after finding Meta and Google were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms. The jury later awarded her another $3 million in punitive damages.
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Kaley — who said she started watching videos on YouTube as a six-year-old and began using the Instagram photo-sharing app at nine years old — alleged that the platforms caused various harms, including anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.
Her case was the first of its kind to go to trial with the verdict likely to have implications for many similar lawsuits against social media companies that are making their way through the U.S. court system.
TikTok and Snapchat had reached confidential settlements with Kaley ahead of the trial, but remain defendants in the broader group of lawsuits.
Trial focused on ‘addictive’ design features
As U.S. law generally protects social media companies from being sued over third-party content, the case focused on the social media companies’ software features, such as “infinite” scrolling and notifications, which allegedly make them addictive.
Kaley’s lawyers had argued that the platforms allegedly “built machines designed to addict the brains of children,” which caused serious harm to the young users’ developing minds.
During the month-long trial, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram , and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were called to testify, along with Kaley and several mental-health experts. Zuckerberg testified that the company had a policy prohibiting users under the age of 13 from using any of its platforms.
Kaley’s lawyers, however, presented him with internal documents showing that despite Meta’s policy, the company allegedly knew young children were using its platforms, the BBC reported.
Lawyers for Meta had argued that Kaley’s mental-health issues were influenced by other factors predating her use of Instagram.
The jurors voted 10-2 to hold Meta and Google liable. They found Meta 70% responsible for the plaintiff’s harm, while YouTube was responsible for the remaining 30%. They recommended Meta pay at least $2.1 million in damages and another $2.1 million in punitive damages to Kaley for her losses, including the cost of therapy, and Google must pay at least $900,000 in damages and another $900,000 in punitive damages.
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Tech companies respond to verdict
Meta responded to the verdict in a statement, saying they “respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”
A Google spokesperson said the company intends to file an appeal.
“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.
Kaley’s lawyers said in statement the verdict sends an “unmistakable message.
“Today, a jury saw the truth and held Meta and Google accountable for designing products that addict and harm children,” according to the statement.
Wednesday’s ruling came a day after a New Mexico court found Meta liable for allegedly misleading teens in the state about the safety of its platforms, even when it knew Facebook and Instagram had become breeding grounds for sexual predators.
The company was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties.
— With files from Bloomberg.