Negligence Verdict Against Meta and YouTube for Harm to Children

In connection with the ongoing push to hold social media platforms accountable for alleged harms against users, in particular children, a major legal breakthrough has occurred.  Last month a California jury awarded damages of $6,000,000, including $3,000,000 in punitive damages, for the Plaintiff’s claims against Meta and YouTube for damages suffered as a result of the negligence of Meta and YouTube.  Specifically, the minor plaintiff, K.G.M. sued Meta and YouTube, among other defendants that ultimately settled their suits, for negligence related to the design and deployment of their social media platforms, Instagram and YouTube. The verdict of negligence against the platforms is grounded in the finding that both Meta and YouTube designed their products for children to create accounts via evading parental consent, while utilizing an addictive design in their products and exposing users to harmful content.

Due to these features, including infinite scrolling and the algorithmic presentation of harmful content, the Plaintiff alleged that she suffered dangerous dependency on the products, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and body dysmorphia.  As part of their defense, Meta and YouTube asserted that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides broad immunity for platforms to not be responsible for content posted by third party publishers. This defense was countered by the Plaintiff’s, including through their assertion of the design of these platforms, which contributed to K.G.M’s psychiatric harms. Ultimately, the jury sided with the plaintiff in finding that the platforms knew or should have known that their design was dangerous to minors, that users would not recognize this danger, and the platforms did not warn users of this danger, and these actions were a substantial factor in causing the Plaintiff’s harm.

While it is likely that this verdict will be appealed by Meta and YouTube, this case provides a new blueprint for consumer protection advocates to hold social media platforms accountable for harmful effects suffered by minor users.  This decision comes in the midst of ongoing litigation by states attorneys general against social media platforms for violations of children’s privacy and consumer protection laws. In recent years social media platforms have placed increased emphasis on the protection of children and their privacy, including Instagram’s creation of teen accounts, however, it does not seem that these features have had the desired effect pushed by consumer protection advocates. We will continue to monitor the subsequent suits that proceed in the wake of this decision.