Overview
- In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury awarded $6 million after finding Meta 70% and YouTube 30% responsible for a young woman’s injuries, after TikTok and Snap settled before the jury phase.
- A New Mexico jury on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375 million under the state’s consumer law for misleading families about safety, with a May court phase to consider injunctive remedies.
- Both trials turned on design choices such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and recommendation feeds that jurors heard can drive compulsive use and expose kids to harmful content.
- Meta and Google say they will appeal, and legal analysts note the rulings do not force product redesigns or change how Section 230 shields platforms from liability for user content.
- The outcomes are already rippling, with Los Angeles Unified filing a new suit Friday and analysts expecting more cases, higher legal costs and pressure for age checks and algorithm changes.