Jury orders Meta and Google to pay woman $3 million in social media addiction trial

A California jury on Wednesday found that Meta and Google's YouTube were to blame for the depression and anxiety of a woman who compulsively used social media as a small child, awarding her $3 million in a rare verdict holding Silicon Valley accountable for its role in fueling a youth mental health crisis.

The jurors concluded that Meta and Google should pay the woman $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta on the hook for 70% of that amount, or $2.1 million.

The jury also decided that the companies' actions should trigger punitive damages, which means there will be a separate phase of the trial where the jury will decide what amount of damages is appropriate to punish the multi-trillion-dollar companies for their conduct.