A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has denied a motion to overturn the $6 million in punitive and compensatory damages award secured by a Lanier Law Firm trial team against Meta Platforms Inc. and Google’s YouTube earlier this year. Following seven weeks of testimony a jury found the two corporate giants liable for deliberately designing addictive social media platforms that caused severe mental health harm to a young woman during her preteen and teenage years. Jurors found the two companies acted with malice, oppression, and fraud by developing and concealing algorithmic content that targets young users and leads to significant mental health issues by keeping them on the platforms.
“After nine days of deliberations, the jury found Meta and YouTube liable for causing KGM’s injuries and delivered a resounding message by punishing both defendants with punitive damages,” says the firm’s Rachel Lanier. “We are pleased with the Court’s ruling denying Meta’s and YouTube’s attempts to take away the jury’s verdict. The Court specifically found that the ‘punitive damages award is supported by substantial evidence’ that both Meta and YouTube willfully and consciously disregarded the rights and safety of its minor users through the design and operation of their platforms. The Court also rejected each of Defendants’ arguments on Section 230, First Amendment, and causation while noting that many of the arguments had been shot down throughout the litigation. We are now turning full steam to the next trial set to begin July 27 and look forward to continuing to hold these social media companies accountable.”
The trial was the first in a consolidated action to hold social media companies responsible for the harm caused by their platform design choices. That litigation includes more than 1,600 plaintiffs, including families and school districts from across the nation.