A US court in California has convicted tech giants Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and YouTube of systematically making young people addicted to social media. The landmark verdict was handed down by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Wednesday (March 25). The two companies knowingly designed their platforms in a way that posed a risk to public health, the ruling said.
According to the report of the American media CNN, the 20-year-old young woman from California Kelly and her mother filed this case. Their complaint was that Meta, Google (YouTube), Snapchat and Tik Tok systematically made children addicted to these apps. Kelly claims that her use of these apps since childhood has caused her to suffer from psychological problems such as anxiety, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts.
Notably, Snap and TikTok settled out of court with Kelly before the trial began.
The jury reached its verdict after a long seven-week trial and eight days of jury deliberations. In its ruling, the court said Meta and YouTube were grossly negligent in designing their platforms. They knew this design was dangerous, but failed to warn users of that risk.
The court ordered Kelly to pay three million (3 million) dollars in damages. According to the jury, Meta was 70 percent responsible for Kelly’s damages and YouTube 30 percent. In addition, further punitive fines may be imposed in the future.
“We disagree with the ruling and we plan to take further legal action,” a Met spokesperson said in response to the ruling.
On the other hand, CNN requested Google, the parent company of YouTube, for comment on this matter, but they did not immediately respond.
