Meta asks judge to overturn verdict in landmark social media addiction trial

Social media giant Meta has asked a United States judge to throw out a verdict that found the company liable for a woman’s depression and addiction, according to court filings and media reports.

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In March, a jury found that Meta and Google, the parent company of YouTube, had been negligent in how they designed their platforms and failed to warn their users of the dangers of using them. The jury decided the companies owed the 20-year-old plaintiff identified as KGM, $6 million (€5.1 million).

KGM testified that she spent up to 16 hours a day on social media platforms and that this exacerbated mental health struggles.

Meta asked the judge to overturn the verdict and either rule in its favour or order a new trial, according to Reuters reporting.

The company argues that it is shielded from the allegations in this lawsuit because of Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, which protects online platforms from liability over the harms from user-generated content on their platforms, according to reports.

The evidence presented at the trial tried to link KGM’s mental health challenges to the content she viewed instead of design features on the app, such as infinite scroll and autoplay.

The case is considered a “bellwether” trial, meaning itcould decide how thousands of other lawsuits in the United States are determined.

Euronews Next reached out to Meta and YouTube but did not receive an immediate reply.

During the trial, Meta argued that KGM's mental health struggles were due to a turbulent life at home, not their social media use.

YouTube's arguments focused more on the nature of the platform, which is equivalent to television rather than a social media platform. Lawyers for YouTube also noted that KGM's YouTube use went down as she aged.

Lawyers representing both platforms also pointed to their safety features and guardrails for users to monitor and customise their use.​