A Los Angeles jury found big tech companies guilty of maintaining mechanisms that addict children and teenagers to social networks. The decision was taken this Wednesday (25) in a historic trial that could influence other processes underway in the USA.
Technology and communications conglomerate Meta and video platform YouTube were found negligent in a case involving a 20-year-old woman who claimed to have become addicted to apps and social media during her childhood. In her arguments, she stated that, due to the presence of design features that were addictive, she suffered damage to her mental health that lasts to this day.
The trial, which began in late January in Los Angeles Superior Court, resulted in a $3 billion award for moral damages and other economic losses. According to the verdict, Meta was responsible for 70% of the costs and YouTube for the rest.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, will still deliberate to decide what additional punitive damages the companies should pay for pain, suffering or fraud against the user. The historic decision could result in changes to the mechanisms within these applications and have repercussions on other trials taking place in the USA – there are currently more than 1,500 similar cases against technology companies in court.
This Tuesday, a New Mexico jury had already concluded that Meta was guilty of hiding information about flaws in its platforms and business practices that facilitated child sexual exploitation, and ordered the company to pay a fine of US$375 million.
