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Posted on 03/25/2026 11:43:51 AM PDT by Libloather
A Los Angeles jury found Wednesday that Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube harmed a young user with features designed to hook kids — in a bombshell verdict that “shakes Big Tech’s predatory business model to its core.”
The high-profile case involved a 20-year-old woman who claimed she became dangerously obsessed with the apps at a young age because they were deliberately built to be addictive, using features like infinite scroll and autoplay.
The tech giants were found liable for $3 million in damages. The multi-million-dollar judgment is likely to grow, as the jury of seven women and five men will continue to deliberate on punitive damages the companies should pay for acting with malice.
The bellwether outcome could now influence thousands of similar cases against the two most powerful tech companies — and their peers — brought by parents, states and school districts.
At least half of American teens use YouTube or Instagram daily, according to the Pew Research Center.
Snap and TikTok were also defendants in the first-of-its-kind trial, however, both settled with the plaintiff before it began.
The verdict is an “earthquake that shakes Big Tech’s predatory business model to its core,” according to Sacha Haworth, executive director of the online safety watchdog Tech Oversight Project.
“This trial was proof that if you put CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg on the stand before a judge and jury of their peers, the tech industry’s wanton disregard for people will be on full display,” Haworth said in a statement.
The plaintiff, only known as K.G.M., said she started using social media apps at just 6 years old, and her addiction fueled depression, anxiety and severe mental health struggles, including body dysmorphia and thoughts of self-harm.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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How was she debilitated?
Did she turn into an AWFUL Cat Lady?
That fight there is worth the three million.
What an outrage. As usual, no one is responsible for their own actions. Guess Meta held her down and forced her to use a cellphone.
I’m suing the makers of pizza!
Actually Meta and Google might have a tough time on appeal. The jury found as a matter of fact that:
1) the platforms were designed to cause addiction in children
2) the plaintiff became addicted as a child.
3) the plaintiff was injured and suffered damages as a result of the addiction.
Meta and Google are going to have to prove a legal error. The findings of fact by the jury are not subject to appeal.
You made the food taste good so I kept eating it!! Waahhhh
My grandkids never got “addicted” to social media. They were addicted to the trash the lefties have on “kids” TV channels. Junk and garbage. The weaponized judicial system in this country has gone into wealth redistribution. Friggin’ thieves.
This is huge in the legal realm for platform hosting and all other things “social-media”. They’ve proven harmful practices targeted at minors for profit. Think big tobacco.
For sure it wasn’t a court of JUSTICE. Meta should not have to pay...
It seems to me that for someone "addicted" to something which is not a physical substance, would require a very high standard of proof. Someone who claims they are addicted to pornography, would only indicate that the person was of low moral character.
Agree
One has to wonder when Meta and Google drags a bag-o-cash into the court room for results?.
Meta/YouTube updates their coding to increase hits on their videos. They can tell you exactly how much they increase it as they use more user data against users.
They hire world class professionals, just like casinos and state lotteries do.
She should sue her parents.
I can’t wait for children to start suing schools for creating an environment where it is impossible to learn anything and for brainwashing them in leftist propaganda.
And for college students to sue universities for charging them to get a degree in subjects that are incapable of making them employable.
Not only is this disgusting it is just wrong! The whole of liability gets more and more disgusting. This kid was screwed up from the day she was born. Never mind that, take some responsibility for your own actions. I would hate to admit I was so weak minded to be “addicted” by anything.
The world we live in is revolting. I don’t know what is worse, a thief or a liar.
Live for everyone would be a whole lot better if we held to the simple pillars of:
Don’t lie, cheat or steal or tolerate anyone who does any of these things.
That is all it would take.
Ha haaaaaas! No big payday. Once her lawyers deduct their 33% cut plus expenses she’ll be lucky if she doesn’t end up owing her attorneys money. Wah, wah, wahhhh.
“I tell ya your honor that girl came begging to me for crack. It’s not my fault. I helped her out. It was an honest quid-pro-quo. She asked how she could earn the money to buy more drugs and I only helped her out by giving her tips and advice. It must be her parents’ fault she’s addicted.”
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