California Jury Awards $6M Against Meta, YouTube

In a landmark ruling that could reshape the liability of social media platforms, a California jury awarded a 20-year-old woman $6 million in damages on March 25, 2026, holding Meta and Alphabet's YouTube responsible for designing addictive features that exacerbated her mental health struggles. The verdict, delivered in federal court in Oakland, followed a six-week trial and marked the second major defeat for Meta in as many days, after a New Mexico jury imposed a $375 million penalty on the company for violating state consumer protection laws and endangering children through its platforms.

The California plaintiff, identified only by her initials KGM, testified that as a teenager she spent up to 16 hours a day on Instagram and YouTube, leading to severe anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Jurors found both companies liable for creating a public nuisance by prioritizing engagement over user safety, with Meta bearing 70 percent of the responsibility, amounting to $4.2 million, and YouTube covering the remaining $1.8 million. The decision stemmed from claims that features like infinite scroll, autoplay recommendations, and push notifications exploited adolescent vulnerabilities,...