A California jury has found Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube liable for designing addictive features that harmed a teenage user’s mental health, ordering $3 million in compensatory damages.
The plaintiff, identified as K.G.M. or Kaley, alleged that heavy Instagram and YouTube use during childhood fueled depression, anxiety, and body image issues. Her legal team argued the platforms used autoplay, endless scrolling, algorithmic recommendations, and persistent notifications not as neutral tools-but as engineered systems to maximize engagement from young users.
Jurors assigned 70% of liability to Meta and 30% to Google and also found grounds for punitive damages, with a separate phase to determine additional penalties.
Both companies plan to appeal. During trial, they contended adolescent mental health stems from multiple factors and highlighted existing parental controls and safety tools.
This verdict follows a separate New Mexico ruling where Meta was found to have misled the public about child safety, violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act. While that case focused on sexualized content and predators, both rulings converge on a core issue: tech platforms’ failure to safeguard minors.
The California decision could set a precedent as thousands of similar lawsuits advance nationwide, signaling growing judicial willingness to hold tech firms accountable for product architecture-not just user-generated content.