A jury in LA has delivered a damning verdict for two of the world's most popular digital platforms, Instagram and YouTube. It ruled those apps are addictive and deliberately engineered that way, and that their owners have been negligent in their safeguarding of the children who have used them.
The tech giants in this case, Meta and Google, must now pay $6m (£4.5m) in damages to a young woman known as Kaley, the victim at the centre of this case. She claimed the platforms left her with body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Both companies intend to appeal, with Meta maintaining a single app cannot be solely responsible for a teen mental health crisis. Google argues that YouTube is not a social network.
This ruling is a significant moment for Silicon Valley, indicating that “the era of impunity is over,” according to Dr. Mary Franks, a law professor at George Washington University. Experts suggest the verdict may be tech's “big tobacco” moment, echoing past legal battles that transformed health policies on tobacco products.
With similar lawsuits pending, this verdict could open the door to increased scrutiny on how social media platforms engage users, especially children. Policymakers in the UK and beyond may now feel empowered to introduce regulations limiting children’s access to social media platforms, a possible sign of shifting societal views on the place of technology in youth lives.
