A Los Angeles jury delivered a landmark verdict on Wednesday, finding that Meta (Instagram) and Google (YouTube) intentionally designed addictive platforms that caused serious harm to a young user's mental health during childhood.

The Verdict

The plaintiff, identified as "Kaley," began using Instagram at age nine and YouTube at age six. By ten, she was experiencing anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia — conditions her lawyers attributed to algorithmic features like infinite scroll and content recommendation designed to maximize engagement above user wellbeing.

The jury awarded $6 million in total damages: $3 million compensatory, $3 million punitive. Meta was assigned 70% of the liability ($4.2M), Google the remaining 30% ($1.8M). Critically, jurors determined both companies acted "with malice, oppression, or fraud" — language that signals deliberate wrongdoing rather than negligence.

Snap and TikTok settled out of court before the trial concluded.

Broader Stakes

This verdict comes a day after a New Mexico jury also found Meta liable for exposing children to sexual predators on its platforms — back-to-back rulings that analyst Mike Proulx at Forrester called a "breaking point" between social platforms and public trust.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified during the five-week trial, acknowledging internal research showed children under 13 were using Instagram despite official policy prohibiting it. Both companies have announced plans to appeal.

Globally, Australia has banned under-16s from social media outright, while the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil are advancing similar legislation. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to the verdict by signaling further government action: "It's not if things are going to change, things are going to change."

Thousands of similar lawsuits remain in the pipeline.