Los Angeles jury decides social media addiction case against Meta, YouTube

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and Google liable in a closely watched trial accusing social media platforms of designing their products to get young users addicted, awarding the plaintiff $6 million in damages. 

Meta was ordered to pay 70% of the awarded compensatory damages, while Google is responsible for the remaining 30%, for a total of $3 million. Hours later, the jury ordered Meta to pay another $2.1 million and Google an additional $900,000 in punitive damages. 

Unlike compensatory damages, jurors were not asked to award punitive damages as a percentage of a lump sum. The verdict came after nine days, including roughly 43 hours of deliberations.

“For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features,” the plaintiff’s lawyers said in a statement. “Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived.”

“Thousands of individuals and families continue to litigate in the Los Angeles Superior Court,” the statement continued. “We will carry this fight forward on their behalf with the same commitment and determination that brought us to this verdict today.”

Outside the courthouse, parents who say they lost their children to social media-related deaths gathered in anticipation of the verdict. There were cheers and hugs when they heard the decision.

Jurors found that Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud” meaning punitive damages would also be assessed on top of the $3 million total compensatory damages. A hearing will be held in which each side will have 20 minutes to argue punitive damages. 

“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” a Meta spokesperson said shortly after the verdict. 

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Supporters of “K.G.M.” pose with signs outside the Los Angeles Superior Court during a social media trial over whether platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive to children in Los Angeles, Feb. 25, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP Via Getty Images)

 José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, told FOX Business the company disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal. 

“This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” he said. 

The case centered on a now-20-year-old California woman identified as K.G.M., who said social media platforms encouraged addictive use when she was a minor and contributed to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Her lawsuit alleged that companies behind several major platforms designed their products in ways that encouraged compulsive use among young people. 

The companies have denied wrongdoing and argued their services include safety tools and parental controls.

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