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‘Wake‑up Call for Parents’: Jury Finds Google and Meta Liable in Child Social Media Addiction Case
Jury awards $6 million to plaintiff, finding Google and Meta failed to warn about addictive features harming children’s mental health, marking a legal first.
- On Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Google and Meta liable for designing addictive social media platforms, awarding a 20-year-old plaintiff $6 million in damages for harm caused by Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano, CEO of ProtectNowLLC, testified that platform features like Infinite Scroll and Auto Play are engineered to bypass impulse control; the jury also found the companies failed to provide adequate warnings about dangers.
- Jess Miers, an assistant professor at the University of Akron School of Law, called the verdict a turning point for products liability, while Minda Smiley, a senior social media analyst at Emarketer, warned substantial changes could hurt corporate profits.
- Success in this case "generates a lot of momentum," said lead attorney Lexi Hazam, as thousands of pending lawsuits from individuals and school districts await trial, including one involving a Kentucky school district scheduled for June.
- Unless successfully appealed, the ruling may force companies to alter platform functions, potentially jeopardizing advertising-driven business models; advocates are pushing the Kids Online Safety Act as regulatory backup.
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24 Articles
24 Articles
In the US, a precedent ruling was issued against Meta and Google: the jury found that companies deliberately developed addictive products and did not warn users about the risks. We are talking about YouTube and Instagram.
·Riga, Latvia
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‘Wake‑up call for parents’: Jury finds Google and Meta liable in child social media addiction case
Dr. Ellen Braaten says it’s no surprise social media use has a negative impact on a child’s mental health, but now, these companies are being held legally responsible for it, for the first time.
·Boston, United States
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The ruling could become a key precedent in technological regulation and mark a turning point for large digital platforms
He sentenced Google and Meta to compensate a woman who had had anxiety and depression problems
·Italy
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Total News Sources24
Leaning Left4Leaning Right2Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Left
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources lean Left
57% Left
L 57%
14%
R 29%
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