LOS ANGELES—A pair of legal cases involving social media addiction and child safety claims have slapped the parent companies of platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google. Now, these companies are on the hook for judgments valued in the hundreds of millions.
A jury in a Los Angeles Superior Court ruled Wednesday that Facebook partent Meta Platforms and the Google-owned YouTube must pay over $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a plaintiff referred to as KGM, or "Kaley," throughout court proceedings.
After deliberating for more than a week, jurors found that Meta and Google failed to warn their users of the potential dangers of using their platforms excessively. KGM brought the case alleging she suffers from social media addiction derived from her unchecked usage of apps like Instagram and YouTube when she was a child.
The jurors found that Meta and YouTube's "negligence" played a "substantial factor" in KGM's mental health-related claims. This is a major bellwether case establishing, for the first time in a U.S. court, that social media addiction is a recognized concept by the legal system, despite an ongoing lack of scientific consensus. Social media addiction is not a recognized diagnosis in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), which is compiled and published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Rather, medical practitioners apply criteria for diagnosing other addictions and problematic use behaviors. According to the association, proposed diagnoses under the category of technology addiction are typically products of behavioral dysfunction that is exacerbated by underlying diagnoses of anxiety, depression and other related mental health disorders.
Anti-porn activists have attempted to equate problematic pornography use with the proposed and disputed diagnosis of "pornography addiction." The DSM-5 doesn't feature porn addiction as an officially recognized diagnosis either. Both Meta and Google dispute the jury's finding, noting that they intend to appeal.
A spokesperson for Meta shared with CNBC.com that company heads "respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options."
A spokesperson for Google was more succinct in expressing disagreement with the jury, saying, "This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site." Attorneys representing KGM begged to differ, noting, "Today’s verdict is a referendum—from a jury, to an entire industry."
On Tuesday, a New Mexico jury additionally ruled against Meta, affirming accusations that the Mark Zuckerberg-led big tech company lied about its child safety and privacy protocols.
In what comes as yet another major ruling, the New Mexico jury found a combined penalty of $375 million derived from more than 3,000 identified violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act. Raúl Torrez, New Mexico's attorney general and the lead prosecutor to bring the case against Meta in state court, called the ruling "a historic victory for every child and family."
“Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew," Torrez said. The suit in New Mexico accused Facebook and its sister platforms of not adopting age-appropriate designs for minors and their parents, despite claims of dedication to such a cause.
"Today, the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough," Torrez remarked. In a press statement responding to the ruling in Los Angeles, Torrez added that he and his office are pleased, noting, "Juries in New Mexico and California have recognized that Meta’s public deception and design features are putting children in harm’s way."
"In the next phase of New Mexico’s trial, my number one priority remains changing the company’s longstanding and dangerous practice of prioritizing profits over children’s safety," he added. "We will seek court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms that offer protections for kids.”
Here, Torrez explained that litigation against Meta will continue with a bench trial starting in May to seek further damages against the company for committing alleged public nuisances and violations of the state's consumer safety and protection laws.
