Meta, Google Liable in Verdict
A Los Angeles jury found Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google (YouTube) liable for designing addictive features that harmed young users, awarding more than $6 million in damages. The ruling signals rising legal risk for engagement-driven design and will push engineers to build auditable safeguards and ethical guardrails into product stacks. (businessinsider.com)
The plaintiff, identified in court by her initials K.G.M. and referred to as Kaley, is a 20‑year‑old who testified she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9. (businesswire.com) Jurors apportioned 70% of the compensatory award to Meta and 30% to YouTube, allocating $2.1 million to Meta and $900,000 to Google from the $3 million compensatory verdict, and the panel also assessed $3 million in punitive damages with the same 70/30 split. (cnbc.com) Ten jurors voted for the plaintiff while two favored the defense after roughly nine days and about 43 hours of deliberations that began on March 13, with the verdict returned on March 25, 2026. (cnbc.com) Trial evidence included roughly eight hours of testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Feb. 18–19 and internal company documents presented at trial showing that, as of 2015, Meta estimated more than four million Instagram users were under age 13 — about 30% of U.S. 10–12‑year‑olds. (businesswire.com) The Los Angeles trial was the first bellwether to be decided from a consolidated action that includes more than 1,600 plaintiffs, and it followed a separate New Mexico jury verdict that ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties. (politico.com) Both Meta and Google said they disagree with the verdict and are evaluating appeals, with Google’s statement arguing that YouTube is a responsibly built streaming platform rather than a social media site. (cnbc.com)
