March 25, 2026

Big Tech’s Reckoning: Los Angeles Jury Finds Meta and YouTube Negligent for Harming Children
 

WASHINGTON, DC (March 25, 2026) – Enough Is Enough^® (EIE) commended the verdict finding that Meta and YouTube are negligent for deliberately hooking children on social media and causing them harm. The jury ordered the companies to pay $6 million to the plaintiff, identified as KGM, who sued several social media giants, including Meta, Google (YouTube), Snapchat, and TikTok, alleging she became addicted to their apps beginning in childhood, leading to depression and suicidal thoughts.

“The jury is no longer out and justice is finally in. Today, Big Tech is facing a reckoning for the harms these companies have caused to children and teens. With the Los Angeles jury finding that Meta and YouTube led to the plaintiff being addicted to their platforms and suffering from a plethora of harms, it is clear that this verdict paves the way for more lawsuits from others who have suffered harm,” said Donna Rice Hughes, President and CEO, Enough Is Enough^®.

“Big Tech is the new Big Tobacco. They intentionally addict their users through the way they program their algorithms. They also profit from harm, and the evidence of harm to children is overwhelming.

“It has never been clearer that multibillion-dollar Big Tech giants that design social media and other tech platforms are preying on our children. Meta knew it was pushing its social platforms like a drug to teens. Its own internal studies found that Instagram worsened body image issues for many teenage girls, intensified anxiety and depression among teenagers, and encouraged compulsive, addictive use — yet the company continued to promote and expand these products to young users.

“Both Snapchat and TikTok wisely chose to settle out of court, but Meta and Google weren’t that smart and are dealing with a well-deserved PR disaster as a result. Big Tech only responds when there are lawsuits against them, and this is one of many more to be heard,” Hughes said.