GoKawiilOn Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $3 million in damages to a young woman who successfully argued that the companies’ social media apps were designed to addict children.
Meta will pay the majority of the fine, 70 percent, while YouTube-owner Google is on the hook for 30 percent, the jury decided.
During the six-week trial, the jury heard that Meta and Google designed apps with features like auto-play, infinite scroll, and algorithmic recommendations to keep kids online. Feeling trapped in a cycle of constantly using these apps caused the plaintiff, known as K.G.M., “crippling mental distress,” CNBC reported. She developed “severe body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts,” and every notification that came through made it harder to stop logging in.
At the trial, Meta and Google tried to deflect from the role that apps played in K.G.M.’s mental decline, arguing that she used the apps to cope with mental health problems that “stemmed from a turbulent childhood and related family issues,” CNBC reported.
Internal documents revealed to the jury showed that Meta’s employees openly discussed how addictive design features were, bragging that “teens can’t switch off from Instagram even if they want to.” One employee even declared, “oh my gosh yall IG is a drug,” while likening all social media platforms to “pushers.”
However, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri declined to acknowledge on the stand that K.G.M. had become addicted to Meta apps, instead suggesting that her usage was merely “problematic.”
Along similar lines, YouTube Vice President of Engineering Cristos Goodrow argued that YouTube could not be liable for her harms because it was “not designed to maximize time.” The platform also maintained throughout the trial that it is not a social media site.