In an unprecedented verdict, a Los Angeles jury has ruled Meta and YouTube guilty for social media addiction…
As Rupert Breheny, the founder of Cobalt AI, put it: “The algorithm just lost its immunity.”
Breheny has a point. Because this verdict could change the future of the internet.
In a landmark verdict in the Los Angeles court, the jury has ruled that Meta and YouTube have “intentionally designed addictive products that hooked and eventually harmed” a young user. It also found that both tech companies were negligent and failed to provide adequate warnings about the potential dangers of their products.
The Case that Sparked It All
The lead plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley (but prefers to go by her initials KGM, for court proceedings) will be paid $6 million in damages, with Meta to pay 70% and YouTube the remainder. TikTok and Snap were also included in KGM’s original case but both companies had reached settlement agreements just before the trial began in January 2026.
The verdict took 9 days of deliberations. Before that, the trial had gone on for 6 weeks in the LA superior court with statements from top executives at Meta and YouTube, whistleblowers, expert witnesses on social media and addiction, and KGM. The top executives included Mark Zuckerberg (chief executive of Meta), Adam Mosseri (the head of Instagram) and Cristos Goodrow (vice-president of engineering at YouTube).
KGM stated that she was hooked to Facebook by the age of 6 and to YouTube when she was 9. By the time she was 10, she said she was depressed and engaging in self-harm. She added that her use of social media made her anxious and insecure and that features like beauty filters “distorted her self-image”.
She added that she would become depressed when her mother took her phone away as she had the constant fear of missing out on something. She admitted to having suicidal thoughts and that she cut herself as a “coping mechanism to deal with my depression”. KGM’s former therapist, Victoria Burke, testified that she had worked with KGM when she was 13 and 14 and diagnosed her with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia.
Implications for Big Tech Companies
This trial is the first of a consolidated list from 1600 plaintiffs, including more than 350 families and 250 school districts, against Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap. KGM and her lawyers alleged that certain features like infinite scroll and video autoplay are designed to keep people on the apps and add to their addictive quality.
If upheld, this verdict could have major consequences. Tech companies will have to rethink their design philosophies and prolonged social media usage – which earlier was a barometer of success – could now become a legal liability.
Governments across USA, Europe and beyond were already exploring stricter rules for social media usage, especially among children. This ruling would help those efforts significantly and even speed up the policy change.
More lawsuits are expected to be filed against the big tech companies in the coming weeks and months from those who feel they were harmed by excessive social media usage.
A Shift in the Digital Landscape
Previously, growth metrics like user engagement and time spent were the main drivers of the social media business model. But after this ruling, those metrics are under severe scrutiny.
Social media platforms will now be forced to create ‘intentional friction’, wherein they discourage prolonged usage by encourage frequent breaks, limiting screen time or being more transparent about how the algorithm actually works. They will have to prioritise user well-being over deeper engagement.
The Last Word
Meta and YouTube are expected to file their appeal soon. It remains to be seen if the verdict is upheld. But one thing is for certain: this ruling will herald a new dawn for the future of social media. The age of unchecked digital growth is well and truly over.
As Breheny put it: “If platforms are now legally liable for the psychological impact of their code, where do we draw the line between a ‘highly engaging’ product and an ‘intentionally addictive’ one?”
As courts and regulators demand greater accountability, the relationship between users and technology is in a new phase – where design is not just about keeping attention, it is also about protecting it.
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