A Los Angeles jury has found Meta and Google liable for a 20-year-old woman's social media addiction.
According to the jury, Meta and Google intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the mental health of the plaintiff, known as Kaley.
The jury found Meta to be 70% responsible for Kaley's harm, while YouTube was 30% to blame.
Response from Defendants
Meta stated: "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options."
During the trial, Meta's chairman and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, testified about the company's policy of not allowing users under 13 on its platforms.
Trail Proceedings
The trial, which lasted about five weeks, focused primarily on Instagram and Meta, with internal research and documents presented as evidence.
Google, as the owner of YouTube, was also a defendant in the case.
Settlements and Implications
Snap and TikTok, initially defendants, reached undisclosed settlements with Kaley prior to the trial.
The verdict is expected to influence hundreds of similar cases currently in the US courts, as reported by the media outlet.
