A Los Angeles jury has found the social media giants Meta and YouTube liable, in a landmark case in which a young woman sued the companies over her childhood addiction to social media.
Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old’s mental health.
The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m in damages in a result that is likely to have major implications for social media companies and the design and regulation of their platforms.
Meta and Google each said they disagreed with the verdict and would appeal. Meta said: "Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. "We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online."
A spokesperson for Google said: "This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site."
The outcome of the case could influence thousands of other lawsuits already underway against the social media companies. The litigation has drawn comparisons to the legal crusade that led to industry changes against Big Tobacco in the 1990s.
Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Ellie Price, Regan Morris and Zoe Kleinman.
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