Social Media Addiction Trial Ends in $6M Verdict Against Meta, Google

Lawsuit payout award is believed to be the first of its kind, holding social media companies responsible for personal injuries caused by their apps’ designs.

A Los Angeles jury wants Meta and Google to pay $6 million in damages to a woman who says she suffered anxiety and depression, due to social media addiction fostered by apps like Facebook and YouTube when she was a minor.

The lawsuit was filed by a woman identified only as K.G.M., now 20, and initially included TikTok and Snapchat as defendants. However, TikTok and Snapchat both reached settlements with the plaintiff before the case went to trial.

K.G.M.’s lawsuit joins thousands of other claimants pursuing various social media addiction lawsuits in state and federal courts, arguing that Meta, Google, TikTok and other companies intentionally designed these platforms to foster excessive and compulsive use. Plaintiffs claim these designs have caused devastating mental disorders for teens and young adults, which may include anxiety, depression, eating disorders and behavioral issues. Some cases have even linked prolonged social media use to self-harm and suicide.

However, individuals are not the only ones pursuing litigation. Similar claims have been brought by local governments, state attorneys general and school districts, often focusing on broader public harms and regulatory violations.

The verdict comes just days after a separate case in New Mexico resulted in a $375 million award against Meta in a lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general. Unlike individual injury claims, that case centered on allegations that Meta violated state and federal laws through the misuse of children’s private data and algorithms designed to exploit young users.

Social Media Addiction Trial Verdict

K.G.M.’s case has been closely watched as one of the first trials to test whether social media companies can be held liable for personal injury claims. Proceedings began last month and included testimony from high-profile industry figures, including Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

During the trial, Meta employees testified that concerns were raised inside the company about the risks to children for years. Others testified that the sites were deliberately designed to cause youths to stay engaged, despite the long-term damage that may result from children becoming addicted and obsessed with social media.

After more than 40 hours of deliberations, the California Superior Court of Los Angeles County jury determined that Meta and Google were liable for K.G.M.’s injuries. They awarded her $3 million in compensatory damages and another $3 million in punitive damages, which are designed to punish the companies for placing a desire for profits before the health and safety of consumers.

After the trial, some jurors said they wanted to send a message to the companies that the tactics being used to foster youth social media addiction are not acceptable.

Meta was assigned the lion’s share of the liability and must pay $4.2 million of the judgement, while Google has been ordered to pay $1.8 million. It is believed to be the first verdict of its kind resulting in personal injury damages against a social media platform’s design.

Social Media Addiction Bellwether Trials

Both the New Mexico and the Los Angeles trials are considered “bellwether” test cases, designed to see how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that could be repeated throughout numerous youth social media addiction lawsuits currently pending in courts nationwide.

It is hoped that the outcomes of these trials, while not binding on other claims, will help the parties reach a settlement agreement or some other resolution, instead of requiring thousands of lengthy and expensive individual trials to move forward in courts nationwide.

While these two recent trials were held in state courts, most social media addiction lawsuits have been filed in the federal court system, where they are consolidated as part of an MDL (multidistrict litigation) before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California. The coordinated proceedings include hundreds of claims brought by individuals, families and school districts.

Judge Rogers also plans to hold a series of bellwether trials in the MDL, with the first federal social media bellwether trial scheduled to begin on June 15, involving claims by Kentucky’s Breathitt County Board of Education, which indicates that he incurred damages dealing with the mental health crisis experienced by students in recent years.

Following these bellwether cases, if no social media addiction settlement is reached, the claims may be remanded back to their originating districts for individual trial dates.

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