A Los Angeles jury dealt a blow to social media giants Meta and YouTube this week when it found the platforms were negligent in designing addictive features that harmed the mental health of a California woman.
Both companies plan to appeal, but the ruling has created uncertainty about the future of the technology companies and raised questions about the possible consequences.
The seven-week trial began in February with testimony from Meta and YouTube executives.
Kaley GM, a 20-year-old woman from Chico, California, sued the platforms in 2023, alleging that using social media at a young age caused her mental health problems such as body dysmorphia and depression. He also sued Santa Monica-based TikTok and Snap, and those companies settled before trial.
Lawyers representing the woman argued that the platforms attract young users with features such as infinite scrolling, auto-playing videos and beauty filters.
People use social media to keep up with their friends and family, but teens can also feel inadequate, sad, or anxious when compared to a curated version of other people's lives online. They also spend a lot of time watching a seemingly endless amount of short videos.
A jury found that Meta was 70% liable for Kaley's damages and that YouTube was 30% liable. They awarded him a total of 6 million dollars. The ruling came shortly after a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for $375 million in damages according to the state attorney. General Raúl Torrez alleged that the characteristics of the platform allowed predators and pedophiles to exploit children.
“These verdicts mark a breaking point, as expected. Negative sentiment toward social media has been building for years and now it has finally boiled over,” said Mike Proulx, a director at Forrester, a market research firm.
How have companies reacted to the ruling?
Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, said they disagreed with the ruling and plan to appeal.
“This case misrepresents YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,” Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone posted the company's statement on social media site X.
“Teenage mental health is deeply complex and cannot be tied to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as each case is different and we remain confident in our track record of protecting teens online,” the statement said.
Tech companies have been responding to mental health issues, implementing new parental controls so parents can track their children's screen time and moderating harmful content. Instagram and YouTube have versions of their apps aimed at young people.
However, some children's advocacy groups and lawmakers say these changes are not enough.
The ruling could affect how much money YouTube's parent company, Alphabet and Meta, make as they spend more on legal battles. While they make billions of dollars from advertising, investors fear higher expenses. Companies are already spending billions of dollars on artificial intelligence and developing new hardware like smart glasses.
On Thursday, Meta shares fell more than 7% to $549 per share. Alphabet saw its share price fall more than 2% to approximately $280.
In 2025, Meta's annual revenue grew 22% from the previous year to $200.97 billion.
Last year, YouTube's annual revenue exceeded $60 billion. Both Google and Meta have been laying off workers because they spend more on AI.
The current backlash has not stopped technology companies from increasing their number of users.
Most American Teens Use YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, According to a Pew Research Center 2025 survey. More than 3.5 billion people use one of Meta's products, including Instagram and Facebook.
Social media has continued to change over the years as companies push for short videos and AI chatbots.
Concerns about mental health have only increased as AI chatbots that answer questions and generate content become more popular. Families have demanded Open AICharacter.AI and Google after loved ones using chatbots committed suicide.
Some analysts remain skeptical that Meta and YouTube will make drastic changes to their products because they have weathered crises before.
“Neither Meta nor YouTube are going to do anything different until a court orders them to or there is a significant drop in user or advertiser usage,” said Max Willens, principal analyst at eMarketer.
Other analysts said legal risks could also affect how technology companies develop new AI-powered products and features.
“Tech companies are now likely to face greater scrutiny over the design of their platforms, which should drive more thoughtful inclusion of features that encourage healthier interactions and protect mental health,” said Andrew Frank, Gartner analyst for Marketing Leaders.
At the very least, the verdicts serve as a “dire warning about how we will handle the next wave of technology,” Proulx said.
“If after almost two decades we are still struggling to put effective barriers around social media, we are far from prepared for the growing harms of AI, which is moving faster, scaling further and becoming much more deeply embedded in people's lives,” he said.
Times staff writer Sonja Sharp contributed to this report.
