May. 7 at 1:16 AM
Meta asked a California judge to overturn a jury verdict that found it liable for harming a woman’s mental health in a landmark social media addiction case.
The jury had ruled that Meta and Google (YouTube’s parent) were negligent in designing their platforms and failed to warn users about potential risks. Meta was ordered to pay
$4.2M in damages, while Google was ordered to pay
$1.8M.
In its filing, Meta argued it is protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and claimed the plaintiff’s mental health issues were linked to content viewed rather than design features like autoplay or infinite scroll. Google has also said it will appeal the ruling.
The case is part of a broader wave of lawsuits against major social media companies, including claims from individuals, families, school districts, and states alleging that platform design is intentionally addictive and contributes to youth mental health problems.
$META $GOOGL