Los Angeles, United States - Judges in Los Angeles, United States, have ruled that Meta and YouTube were negligent in a case that led to children becoming addicted to social media.
In the ruling, the two companies were ordered to pay a total of US$6 million or around Rp101 billion (at the exchange rate of Rp16,901) to the plaintiff.
This case was filed by a 20-year-old woman with the initials K.G.M. In her lawsuit, she said that the addictive features on a number of platforms - including Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap - had a negative impact on her while she was a child.
Unlike Meta and YouTube, the other two platforms, TikTok and Snap, have reached out-of-court settlements before the trial.
In its ruling, the jury determined that Meta was entitled to 70 percent of the $3 million (Rp50.5 billion) in compensatory damages, while YouTube paid the rest. In addition, the jury also imposed punitive damages of $3 million (Rp50.5 billion), as additional damages to have a deterrent effect.
Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and was considering further legal action.
"We respectfully disagree with the ruling and are evaluating our legal options," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement, as reported by Engadget.
Meanwhile, a representative of Google, the parent company of YouTube, also stated that it would appeal and assess this case as misunderstanding YouTube's position as a streaming platform, not a social media.
"We disagree with the ruling and plan to appeal," Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement.
"This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a streaming platform that is responsibly built, not a social media site," he added.
K.G.M's lawyer said this ruling was an important moment because for the first time the jury saw internal documents and executive testimony that were considered to show that the company prioritized profits over children's safety.
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