Social media giants face liability over youth harm

A U.S. jury has for the first time held major tech companies liable over claims that social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram harmed teenagers’ mental health by fostering addictive use. The verdict is widely seen as a bellwether that could shape thousands of similar lawsuits across the United States and open a path to holding Big Tech accountable.

According to The Associated Press and other outlets, a jury in Los Angeles on Wednesday ordered Meta, the parent company of Instagram, and Google, which operates YouTube, to pay a combined $6 million in damages, including $4.2 million from Meta and $1.8 million from Google.

The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaylee G. M., argued that the platforms’ algorithms were designed to promote compulsive use among minors, leading her to suffer anxiety and depression from an early age.

Until now, tech companies have largely been shielded from legal liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects platforms from responsibility for user-generated content. In this case, however, the jury concluded after nine days of deliberations that the problem lay not in the content itself but in the design of systems that drive prolonged engagement. It also found that the platforms posed risks to children and teenagers and that the companies failed to provide adequate warnings.

The Washington Post said the ruling signals a shift in the legal protections long afforded to Big Tech, suggesting courts are beginning to reshape the landscape of Silicon Valley. The New York Times compared the case to litigation against major tobacco companies in the 1990s, noting that those lawsuits resulted in more than $200 billion in settlements, restrictions on youth-targeted marketing and stricter regulations that helped reduce smoking rates.


Woo-Sun Lim imsun@donga.com