Last month, Meta and YouTube were found guilty of intentionally building addictive social media platforms that harmed the plaintiff’s mental health. Kaley, the plaintiff, and her mother, claimed that Meta and YouTube caused Kaley to develop anxiety, body dysmorphia, and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube argued that since Kaley faced challenges at home when she was younger, it caused her to develop her anxiety and other issues. Kaley was awarded $6 million, consisting of $3 million in compensatory and $3 million in punitive damages. Meta was forced to pay $2.1 million, and YouTube had to pay $900,000. Kaley tried to sue TikTok and Snapchat as well, but they both reached settlements in early 2026.
The case was filed in July 2023, and the opening statements were taken on February 9, 2026. The trial went on for seven weeks, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying. The deliberation process took 44 hours over the span of 9 days. Before the case, Meta and other social media platforms faced lawsuits from over 1,600 plaintiffs, including 250 school districts and 350 families. As of March 24, 2026, a judge from New Mexico ordered Meta to pay over $375 million in damages after it was proven that the company misled users about the safety of its platforms.
We asked students about the trial and who they thought should have won, and we had mixed answers. Some students, like Michael Schafer, thought that “she has a right to sue.” Other students, like Naomi Koff, think that Meta and YouTube should not have been found guilty. Naomi said, “They shouldn’t be banned because a lot of people make a living off of it.” While neither of these platforms are banned currently, there is now a possibility of rules being added for teens in the future. We also asked some classes how many people have a screen time of over five hours. In one 6th grade class, 10 out of 16 students said that they have a screen time of over five hours. Although in another 6th grade class, 5 out of 18 students said they have a screen time of over five hours.
After Meta and YouTube were found guilty, it became the first case to hold a major social media platform liable for making apps that intentionally cause mental health problems in young people. Already, in Australia, social media has been banned for kids under the age of 16, and in other countries like Greece, France, Britain, Spain, and 13 others have already taken steps to prevent young children from developing issues from social media or plan on banning it in the future. This case was groundbreaking for social media and could lead to many changes in how people are able to use social media in the future.