Meta and YouTube guilty of harming minors mental health!
Los Angeles, US, Mar 25 (EFE).-
A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube guilty of harming the mental health of minors in a landmark social media addiction on Wednesday, for which they will have to pay 3 million dollars in punitive damages.
The trial began in late January in the Los Angeles Superior Court, where a 20-year-old woman alleged that she became addicted to social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube during her childhood.
Both platforms must pay 3 million dollars in compensation for moral damages and other economic losses.
According to the ruling, Meta is responsible for 70% of the costs, while YouTube is responsible for the remaining 30%.
The jury, composed of seven women and five men, will continue deliberating to decide what additional punitive damages the companies must pay for pain or fraud.
The lawsuit’s outcome represents an important victory against two tech giants and sets the stage for resolving around 1,500 similar cases against social media companies.
The young woman, identified as KGM, had also sued TikTok and Snapchat. They reached an undisclosed settlement to avoid being the first social media platforms to go to trial.
The settlement contributed to the verdict handed down on Tuesday by a New Mexico jury, which also found Meta guilty of concealing information about deficiencies in its platforms and commercial practices that facilitated child sexual exploitation. Meta was fined 375 million dollars.
These lawsuits are part of a broader wave of cases questioning tech industry practices and could set precedents regarding social media responsibility in the United States. EFE
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