LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Meta and YouTube must pay millions in damages to a 20-year-old woman after a jury decided the social media giant and video streamer designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well being.<\/p>\n
The California jury\u2019s decision Wednesday in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit<\/a> could influence the outcome of thousands of similar lawsuits accusing social media companies of deliberately causing harm.<\/p>\n The plaintiff,<\/a> known by her initials KGM, testified at trial that she became addicted to social media as a child and that this addiction exacerbated her mental health struggles. After more than 40 hours of deliberations, a majority of jurors agreed and awarded her $3 million in damages. <\/p>\n Jurors later recommended an additional $3 million in punitive damages after deciding the companies acted with malice, oppression or fraud in harming children with their platforms. The judge has final say over how much damages are awarded.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second verdict against Meta this week, after a jury in New Mexico<\/a> determined the company harms children\u2019s mental health and safety, in violation of state law.<\/p>\n Meta, the parent of Instagram and Facebook, and Google-owned YouTube issued statements disagreeing with the verdict and vowed to explore their legal options, which includes appeals. <\/p>\n Google spokesperson Jose Casta\u00f1eda said the verdict misrepresents YouTube \u201cwhich is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.\u201d A Meta spokesperson said teen mental health is \u201cprofoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.\u201d<\/p>\n Meta bears 70% of the responsibility, while YouTube shoulders 30%<\/p>\n The jury determined that Meta and YouTube knew the design or operation of their platforms was dangerous or was likely to be dangerous when used by a minor. They also agreed that the platforms failed to adequately warn of that danger, further contributing to the plaintiff\u2019s harm. <\/p>\n Only nine of the 12 jurors had to agree on each claim against each defendant. Two jurors consistently disagreed with the other 10 on whether the companies should be held liable. <\/p>\n 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%. That division was reflected in the breakdown of the $3 million in punitive damages, with the jury deciding on $2.1 million from Meta and $900,000 from YouTube. <\/p>\n Meta and YouTube were the two remaining defendants in the case. TikTok and Snap settled<\/a> before the trial began. <\/p>\n The plaintiff was on social media all day from the age of 6<\/p>\n Jurors listened to about a month of lawyers\u2019 arguments, testimony and evidence, and they heard from KGM, or Kaley as her lawyers called her during the trial, as well as Meta leaders Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> and Adam Mosseri<\/a>. YouTube\u2019s CEO, Neal Mohan, was not called to testify. <\/p>\n Kaley said she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9. She told the jury she was on social media \u201call day long\u201d<\/a> as a child.<\/p>\n Lawyers representing Kaley, led by Mark Lanier, were tasked with proving that the respective defendants\u2019 negligence was a substantial factor in causing Kaley\u2019s harm. They pointed to specific design features they said are designed to \u201chook\u201d young users, like the \u201cinfinite\u201d nature of feeds that allowed for an endless supply of content, autoplay features, and notifications. <\/p>\n