California jury finds Meta and YouTube liable for addictive platform design
A California jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in designing social media platforms with attention-grabbing features that harmed a young user, imposing $6 million in damages. The court rejected the companies' defenses under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, finding the law does not shield design choices. Both companies plan to appeal the verdict.
What happened
A California jury found Meta Platforms and Google's YouTube liable for negligent design of their social media platforms after a 20-year-old plaintiff claimed she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube due to their attention-grabbing design features.
After more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, jurors determined Meta held 70 percent of the liability and YouTube 30 percent, and imposed $6 million in damages.
Reported impact
The jury found that the negligence in platform design was a substantial factor in causing harm to the young plaintiff.
Index analysis
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl rejected the companies' argument that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shielded them from liability, stating the law does not address design choices.
The judge noted that jurors were repeatedly instructed not to consider user-generated content, and that there was substantial evidence the plaintiff was harmed by Instagram's design features.
Governance controls
Both Meta and Google announced they plan to appeal the verdict. Meta stated that the plaintiffs' legal theory attempts to improperly circumvent Section 230 and the First Amendment, and that it expected the ruling to be overturned on appeal.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.