In a groundbreaking legal decision with far-reaching implications, a California court has found Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube liable for contributing to a young woman’s depression and suicidal thoughts. The ruling orders the tech giants to pay $3 million in damages in a case that could establish crucial precedent for thousands of similar claims across the United States.
The case centered on Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old Californian who had been a compulsive user of social platforms since childhood. Her legal team successfully argued that platform features including infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, notification systems, and ‘like’ buttons were deliberately designed to create addiction among young users.
During the emotional courtroom proceedings, Meta’s legal defense attempted to attribute the plaintiff’s depression to her challenging family background—a strategy that outraged attending families who had lost children to social media-related mental health crises. Lori Schott, who traveled over 1,800 kilometers from Colorado to attend the verdict, called this approach ‘predatory victim-blaming.’
The trial revealed internal company documents that reduced users to mere statistics, including calculating ‘customer lifetime value’—with children reportedly valued at approximately $270 in projected platform revenue. This coldly analytical approach to young users shocked attending family members.
While TikTok and Snapchat previously settled similar claims financially, Google and Meta chose to fight the allegations in court. The decision comes as Congress considers legislation that would impose a formal ‘duty of care’ on social media companies regarding minor users’ safety.
Despite recent platform initiatives such as default private accounts for teens and parental alert systems for suicide-related searches, victim advocates remain skeptical. Julianna Arnold, co-founder of Parents Rise advocacy group, stated that increased litigation is essential to compel meaningful change, noting that ‘public opinion sway is the only way to get the ear of legislators in Washington.’