{"id":137564,"date":"2026-03-26T19:28:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/901957747"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:28:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:28:37","slug":"big-tech-trial-why-the-verdict-against-meta-and-youtube-is-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/big-tech-trial-why-the-verdict-against-meta-and-youtube-is-so-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech trial: Why the verdict against Meta and Youtube is so important"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A US jury has found that major technology companies <\/span>are liable for deliberately designing addictive products<\/span>, in a case centred on the impact of social media on a young individual\u2019s mental health.<\/span> Jurors found that the tech companies had been negligent and failed to provide suitable warnings about the potential dangers of their products<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit was brought by a 20-year-old woman, known throughout the trial as \u2018KGM\u2019, who said her use of platforms owned by Meta and Google had contributed to serious mental health problems. She <\/span>testified that she became addicted<\/span><\/a> to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine, which had negative effects on her wellbeing. By the age of 10, she had become depressed and began self-harming. By 13, her therapist diagnosed her with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia, which KGM claims was caused by Instagram and YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n

The jury concluded that Meta and Google \u2013 which owns YouTube \u2013 were not simply neutral \u2018platforms\u2019 of user-generated content, but that their design \u2013 including features intended to keep users engaged for longer \u2013 played an active role in causing harm. Historically, platforms have not been treated as publishers, making this a landmark decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, we speak to Nick Couldry, <\/span>author of <\/span>The Space of the World<\/span><\/em><\/a> and professor at LSE, to unpack what the ruling means for the future of social media and the tech industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

WHY IS THIS DECISION SUCH A LANDMARK?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cWhile the ruling does not immediately change how social media platforms operate, it signals a shift in how responsibility may be assigned in the future,\u201d Couldry explains. \u201cInstead of focusing only on what users post, attention is increasingly turning to how platforms are built \u2014 and the role that design plays in shaping user behaviour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision comes from a single jury in Los Angeles, he adds, which means it \u201ccannot set any legal precedent in a formal sense\u201d. But it’s still a powerful \u201cbellwether\u201d which signals a shift towards addressing the impunity which social media companies have long been afforded. \u201cAfter extensive evidence, [the jury] have found that Facebook and Google created and sustained addictive platforms in pursuit of profit \u2013 ie in pursuit of a business model that had only one aim \u2013 to maximise  \u2018engagement\u2019 from which advertising income could be harvested. This finding fits with all the academic and scientific evidence from multiple countries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Couldry says that the decision makes it \u201clikely\u201d that other families and individuals will sue tech giants like Meta \u2013 and not just in the US. \u201cPotentially, this could open the floodgate to hundreds or even thousands of other cases, which could generate a total damages bill which is truly significant,\u201d Couldry continues. \u201cMeta have said they will appeal, though on what grounds is not clear, and Google\u2019s response is awaited.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the short-term, though, Couldry doesn\u2019t think any seismic change is on the horizon. \u201cI don\u2019t expect them to change anything until they are forced to. Changing their business model, unless forced to, is not a concession they can afford to make. Governments \u2013 at federal and state level \u2013 will therefore need to step in and drive legislative and regulatory pressures to force changes on Facebook and Google that reflect this decision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe wider question is how we can allow addictive platforms to be legal at all, given their consequences for all citizens, whether young or old,\u201d he continues. \u201cThis decision starts to expose what many of us had long suspected \u2013 that the debate about age-related social media bans is simply not radical enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… has found that major technology<\/span> companies are liable for deliberately … mental health.\u00c2\u00a0Jurors found that the tech<\/span> companies had been negligent … future of social media and the tech<\/span> industry. WHY IS THIS … and individuals will sue tech<\/span> giants like Meta \u00e2\u0080\u0093 and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}