Historic Verdict: Meta and Google Found Guilty of Causing Children's Social Media Addiction
Technology companies Meta (parent of Instagram and Facebook) and Google (parent of YouTube) have been officially found guilty by a Los Angeles court jury in the United States on Wednesday (25/3/2026).
Both have been legally proven to have designed social media platforms deemed to trigger acute addiction and endanger children’s mental health.
This decision marks a new chapter in history, as it is the first time social media companies have been found guilty for the impact of their products on underage users.
The jury determined that Meta and Google were negligent in designing features without providing sufficient warnings to users.
As a result of this negligence, the court imposed fines and compensation amounting to $6 million USD (approximately Rp 100 billion) to the plaintiffs.
Of this amount, the jury decided that Meta would be fined 70 per cent, while YouTube would bear the remaining 30 per cent.
The lawsuit was filed by a 20-year-old woman whose identity is concealed in court documents with the initials “KGM”, or referred to as Kaley by her legal team.
In court, Kaley testified that she began exposure to YouTube at age 6 and started using Instagram at age 9. From then on, she became addicted and spent “all day” accessing social media.
Her condition worsened when she turned 13. Kaley was diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia, due to her high usage of Instagram and YouTube.
“Today is a historic moment. The jury has seen the evidence, understood what Meta and YouTube have known all along, and finally held them accountable for their actions,” stated Kaley’s legal team, as quoted by KompasTekno from NYTimes.
They accused advanced features, such as infinite scroll, autoplay video playback, beauty filters, and incessant notification systems, of being more than mere technological innovations.
These features are claimed to be weapons of engineered addiction deliberately created to “trap” young users and keep them glued to their phone screens.
The jury (with a 10 to 2 vote) agreed that this system design was the primary factor causing trauma and suffering to Kaley.
On the other hand, platforms TikTok and Snap (Snapchat), which were initially co-defendants in this case, chose a safe approach by agreeing to an out-of-court settlement just before the trial began.
“We respectfully disagree with this decision. Adolescent mental health issues are highly complex and cannot be attributed solely to one app,” stated a Meta spokesperson.
In their defence in court, Meta’s lawyers argued that Kaley’s mental health problems did not stem from social media algorithms, but rather from problematic family environmental factors, including her parents’ divorce.