Two juries. Two states. Nearly $400 million in damages — and thousands of cases still to come
Kehinde Adegoke | International Agencies
Los Angeles: In a pair of seismic courtroom verdicts that experts are already comparing to the collapse of Big Tobacco, Meta and YouTube have been found liable for knowingly designing addictive platforms that harmed children, delivering what may be the most consequential legal blow Silicon Valley has ever faced.
A jury in Los Angeles found both Meta and YouTube liable in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that aimed to hold social media platforms responsible for harm to children, awarding the plaintiff $3 million in damages. The verdict landed just one day after a separate but equally damning decision in New Mexico.
TWO VERDICTS. TWO STATES. ONE RECKONING.
In New Mexico, a jury found that Meta’s social media platforms harm children’s mental health and violate state consumer protection laws, ordering the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties — the first time any American state has won against a major tech company accused of harming young people. The jury ordered Meta to pay the maximum penalty under the law of $5,000 per violation.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez was unsparing in his assessment. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids‘ safety,” he said, adding that his office would seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms.
THE GIRL AT THE CENTRE OF IT ALL
At the heart of the Los Angeles trial is a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM — known as Kaley during proceedings. She says she began using YouTube at age 6 in 2012 and Instagram at age 9 in 2015, telling the jury she was on social media “all day long” as a child.
KGM testified that her nearly nonstop use of social media caused or contributed to depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia. “It really affected my self-worth,” she told the court.
Her lawyers, led by attorney Mark Lanier, pointed to specific design features they said were built to hook young users — including infinite scroll feeds, autoplay functions, and notification systems engineered to maximise time on the platform. Lanier argued the platforms deployed a deliberate “Trojan horse” strategy, drawing children in with appealing content before trapping them in addictive loops.
NINE DAYS. 44 HOURS. ONE VERDICT.
Deliberations in Los Angeles wrapped up after nearly 44 hours across nine days. The jury, at one point, told Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl that it was having difficulty reaching a consensus on one defendant before ultimately finding both Meta and YouTube liable on all counts.
The California jury concluded that Meta and Google should pay KGM $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta on the hook for 70 per cent of that amount. The jury also decided that both companies’ conduct should trigger punitive damages — meaning a separate phase of the trial will determine an additional financial penalty, expected to be significantly larger. The trial featured testimony from Meta executives, former employees turned whistleblowers, and details from an undercover investigation that led to three arrests.
ZUCKERBERG IN THE DOCK
The trial carried a striking visual dimension. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself left the Federal Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles after defending the company in proceedings. His deposition recording was played for jurors during the New Mexico trial.
Meta argued throughout both cases that the plaintiff’s mental health struggles predated or were unconnected to social media use, citing her home life and therapists’ notes.
The jury disagreed.
BIG TOBACCO MOMENT FOR BIG TECH
Social media companies have historically been shielded by Section 230 of the Communications Act — a provision that protects internet platforms from liability for user-generated content. The Los Angeles case marked the first civil action seeking to hold platforms accountable for alleged addiction and mental health harm.
Experts have characterised the trials as social media’s “Big Tobacco moment” — drawing direct comparisons to the 1990s, when tobacco companies were forced to pay billions for concealing the dangers of their products.
The Los Angeles trial was the first in a consolidated group of cases brought by more than 1,600 plaintiffs, including over 350 families and over 250 school districts, against Meta and others. TikTok and Snap, originally named as defendants, settled before the trial began.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The verdicts are not final. Meta plans to appeal both decisions. But the legal and financial exposure now facing Silicon Valley is without precedent.
With punitive damages still to be determined in Los Angeles, the $3 million compensatory award is almost certainly the floor — not the ceiling. Combined with New Mexico’s $375 million penalty, the total bill is already approaching $400 million across just two cases, with thousands more still pending nationwide.
For Nigerian parents, regulators, and policymakers watching from across the Atlantic, the message from two American juries this week is stark and unambiguous: the platforms your children use daily have been found, in a court of law, to have been deliberately designed to addict them.
The reckoning has begun.
Meta has stated it plans to appeal both verdicts. TheDiggerNews.com will continue to follow developments as punitive damages proceedings commence in Los Angeles.
