Social media addiction in court

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Social media addiction on trial - 6th April 2026

A jury in California's found that deliberate acts by social-media giants Meta and YouTube harmed a young person. They were deemed liable for causing her social-media addiction and related mental-health issues. The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman who was named simply Kaley or KGM during the trial.

Kaley gave evidence that her addiction to YouTube, owned by Google, had begun at 6 years old. The plaintiff joined Instagram aged 9 and, a year later, had begun experiencing depression, resulting in self-harming behaviours. Kaley attributes these problems, as well as difficulties with family relationships and at school, to her social-media addiction.

Three years later, at 13, Kaley received a diagnosis of body dysmorphia disorder and another of social phobia from her therapist. She claims both disorders stem from social media-addiction.

At this test case, many witnesses were called to give evidence. Meta and Google executives, corporate whistleblowers and expert witnesses in social media and addiction were all cross-examined. Kaley's lawyer then asked the jury a vital question. "How do you make a child never put down the phone? That's called the 'engineering of addiction'."

This point proved to be crucial in the jury's verdict against the tech companies. It stated that Kaley should be awarded $6 million in damages, half of which came as compensation. The other $3 million was as punishment to Meta and Google, which they found "acted with malice, oppression or fraud" in the way they run their platforms.

70 percent of the $6 million total is due from Meta, with the remaining 30 percent owed by Google. Both companies intend to appeal the verdict, with a public statement from Meta saying that "we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online."

Nevertheless, with 1,600 other similar cases watching the outcome of this trial, the verdict adds to the heat that social-media companies are feeling. Governments are moving to ban under 16s from accessing social media as parents become increasingly aware of the potential harms.