US Jury: "Meta, Google Liable for SNS Addiction... Must Pay 4.4 Billion Won in Damages"

"Platform Design Found to Induce Adolescent Addiction"

Instagram (left to right), Facebook, YouTube applications. Photo by Yoonjoo Hwang

In a lawsuit regarding social networking service (SNS) addiction among adolescents, a U.S. court jury has found Big Tech companies responsible.

According to foreign media outlets such as the Associated Press on the 25th (local time), a jury at the California Superior Court in Los Angeles ruled that Instagram, operated by Meta, and YouTube, operated by Google, are responsible for adolescent SNS addiction. The jury ordered the companies to pay 3 million dollars (approximately KRW 4.4 billion) in damages to the plaintiff.

This case attracted attention as a 'bellwether trial' in SNS-related lawsuits. In particular, unlike previous cases, the key issue was not whether harmful content was posted, but rather whether the design of the platforms themselves induced addiction.

If this verdict is finalized, Meta will be liable for 70% of the damages, while Google will be responsible for the remaining 30%. This verdict was reached after a trial lasting more than a month and over 40 hours of deliberation by the jury across nine days.

Especially if this verdict is confirmed, there are concerns that similar conclusions may follow in future lawsuits against SNS companies.

The plaintiff, a woman in her twenties named "Kaylee G.M.," claimed that she began using YouTube at the age of six and Instagram at the age of nine, and subsequently suffered from depression and physical disabilities due to SNS addiction. She argued that these issues stemmed from the platform operators employing designs intended to induce user addiction.

The plaintiff also sued TikTok, a video-sharing service, and Snap, which operates Snapchat, but they settled before going to trial.

Meta argued that Kaylee suffered from mental health problems unrelated to SNS, while YouTube insisted that its platform is not an SNS but a video service similar to television. However, the jury found these companies responsible.

Meta stated, "We respectfully disagree with the verdict," adding that they are reviewing legal options.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.