U.S. court holds social media platform responsible for addiction for the first time

A Los Angeles jury has found Meta and Google liable for social media addiction. This ruling is the first major case in which the addictive design of a social media platform has led to legal liability, and is expected to have repercussions throughout the tech industry.

A California jury awarded $3 million in damages to plaintiff K.G.M., now 20 years old. The plaintiff claimed that using Instagram and YouTube as a child caused depression and suicidal thoughts.

Jury recognizes ‘malicious act’… Additional punitive damages expected

After a month-long trial and 9 days and a total of 43 hours of deliberation, the jury decided that Meta should pay 70% of the total compensation and Google should pay the remaining 30%. What is more notable is that the jury found that both companies had acted with 'malice, oppression, or fraud.' Accordingly, the amount of punitive damages will be determined in a separate hearing.

Infinite scrolling, autoplay, notifications… The issue of ‘addiction-inducing design’

The key issue in the lawsuit was whether social media platforms were intentionally designed to encourage addictive behavior. The plaintiff testified that he started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9, and that he was connected to social media “all day long” as a child.

The plaintiff's legal team argued that features such as infinite scrolling feeds, content autoplay, and frequent notifications were mechanisms designed to keep users tied to the platform for long periods of time. The jury had to decide whether the platform was negligently designed, whether the companies should have known about the potential harm to children, and whether the service was a substantial factor in the plaintiff's mental health problems.

Both Meta and Google denied the charges during the trial, saying their platforms include safety features and parental controls. After the ruling, a Mehta spokesperson said, "We respectfully disagree with the ruling and are considering legal action."

Meanwhile, TikTok and Snap Inc. were also originally included as defendants, but were excluded from the lawsuit through a settlement before the start of the trial in January of this year.

U.S. social media regulation, how far have we come?

The ruling comes amid growing regulatory pressure in the U.S. on social media platforms. Congressional hearings followed the Facebook whistleblowing incident in 2021, and starting in 2023, a number of states began introducing bills to restrict the use of social media by minors. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will strengthen regulations on data collection from children.

In particular, as research results have accumulated on the impact of the 'algorithmic recommendation systems' of large platforms such as Instagram and YouTube on youth mental health, lawsuits challenging the platform design itself have increased nationwide.

Future outlook [AI analysis]

If this ruling is confirmed, there is a high possibility that similar lawsuits against tech companies will increase rapidly. In particular, recognition of ‘malicious conduct’ could open the door to punitive damages, placing a greater financial burden on companies.

Meta and Google are expected to appeal, but if the original ruling is upheld in the appeal, the platforms are expected to be forced to fundamentally reexamine their algorithm design and minor protection policies. This may lead to the reduction of ‘participation-inducing’ functions such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, or the introduction of differentiated services by age.

In the long term, this ruling is likely to have an impact on social media regulation legislation at the U.S. federal level and could serve as an opportunity to establish legal standards for platform design, like the Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union (EU).