After more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, California jurors decided Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms. The jury also decided each company’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff, a 20-year old woman who says her use of social media as a child addicted her to the technology and exacerbated her mental health struggles. This is the second verdict to come in this week against Meta after a jury in New Mexico determined the company harms children’s mental health and safety, violating state law.
The multimillion-dollar verdict will only grow since the jury decided the companies acted with malice, oppression or fraud. This means they will hear new evidence shortly and head back into the deliberation room to decide on punitive damages.
Meta and YouTube knew that the design, or operation, of their platforms was dangerous or was likely to be dangerous when used by a minor, the jury determined. The platforms also failed to adequately warn of the danger, which further contributed to the plaintiff's harm, jurors found.
Only nine out of the 12 jurors had to agree on each claim against each defendant. Two jurors consistently disagreed with the other 10 on whether the technology companies should be held liable.
The jurors also decided Meta held more responsibility for harm to the plaintiff, who has been identified by her initials KGM. The jury said Meta shouldered 70% of the responsibility while YouTube bore the remaining 30%.
Meta and Google-owned YouTube were the two remaining defendants in the case after TikTok and Snap each settled before the trial began.
