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Meta, Google Found Liable in Social Media Addiction Case
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March 25, 2026
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4:17Now PlayingA Los Angeles jury found that Google and Meta are liable and must pay damages to a woman who alleged that social media platforms from the tech companies were addicting and caused her to have a mental health crisis. Bloomberg's June Grasso broke down the landmark case and said because it is the first of its kind to go to trial, it is a bellwether for future cases, but also cautioned against reading too much precedent into one case.
Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google were found liable and must pay damages to a 20-year-old woman who alleged that her addiction to the companies’ social media platforms caused her to suffer a mental health crisis, a jury said.
The verdict Wednesday in Los Angeles is a victory for plaintiff Kaley G.M., and highlights the financial risk facing the companies from thousands of other suits which claim that Instagram and YouTube are intentionally designed to addict young users without regard for their well-being.
Jurors said Meta must pay at least $2.1 million in damages to compensate Kaley for her losses, including the cost of therapy, and Google must pay at least $900,000. The jury will hear more arguments on whether to also impose punitive damages on the companies.
In the first case of its kind to go to trial, the 12-person jury in California state court was asked to decide whether Meta and Google were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms and should have warned that their products might be dangerous for minors.
Unlike criminal cases, some civil lawsuits don’t require unanimous verdicts. Jurors voted 10-2 to hold both companies liable for the claims against them: negligence and failure to warn of the dangers of their products.
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