A California jury ruled that Meta and Google are financially responsible for harming a young woman through addictive social media design, awarding her $3 million in damages.
The case centered on a woman identified as Kaley, who began using YouTube, which is owned by Google, as a child and later joined Instagram before the age requirement. Jurors found that her compulsive use contributed to depression and anxiety, and Meta was ordered to pay 70 percent of the damages. However, the case is not over, because jurors will next decide punitive damages meant to punish both companies.
Kaley’s legal team argued that platform features like autoplay and endless scrolling were intentionally built to keep young users hooked. They also presented internal documents, including one stating, “If we wanna win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the company’s approach in court, saying, “If people feel like they’re not having a good experience, why would they keep using the product?
Google pushed back as well. Spokesman José Castañeda said, “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
However, the jury still sided with the plaintiff, marking a rare moment where tech companies were held accountable for product design instead of user content.
This verdict could influence thousands of similar lawsuits already filed across the country.
And just like that, the pressure on Big Tech is getting very real.
