Jury finds Meta, Google liable in landmark social media addiction trial, awards more than $6M in damages

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and Google liable in a closely watched trial accusing social media platforms of designing their products to get young users addicted, awarding the plaintiff $6 million in damages.

Meta was ordered to pay 70% of the awarded compensatory damages, while Google is responsible for the remaining 30%, for a total of $3 million. Hours later, the jury ordered Meta to pay another $2.1 million and Google an additional $900,000 in punitive damages.

Unlike compensatory damages, jurors were not asked to award punitive damages as a percentage of a lump sum. The verdict came after nine days, including roughly 43 hours of deliberations.