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A $6 million verdict against Meta and Google in a closely watched social media addiction trial may signal the start of a far broader legal threat for the tech giants.
A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found both companies liable for designing addictive platforms for young users, awarding $3 million in compensatory damages and another $3 million in punitive damages.
Monte Mann, a business trial lawyer at Armstrong Teasdale, said appeals are expected, but the larger implications could be far more consequential.
“I think the verdict will immediately be cited in other cases across the country because now plaintiffs have a roadmap of this theory being validated by a jury,” Mann told FOX Business.
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The ruling is likely to spur a new wave of lawsuits across the country and intensify pressure to settle existing cases, according to Mann.
“I think you’re going to see a flood of aggressive filings,” Mann said. “This verdict is going to attract additional claims and accelerate all the existing ones.”
While the damages in this case total $6 million, Mann warned that the broader financial exposure could be enormous.
“The real story here is what comes next,” he said. “If this theory holds true across multiple cases, you’re no longer talking about millions of dollars, you’re talking about hundreds of millions or potentially billions in aggregate liability for these companies.”
Large-scale liability often grows from a single breakthrough case, according to Mann.
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“So, for companies of this size, the individual verdict from California today is manageable. It’s a nothing, but the systematic risk is absolutely gigantic,” he said.
A key factor in the case was the plaintiffs’ strategy to focus on product design rather than user-generated content.
Instead of challenging what users post, an area largely protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the lawsuit targeted how the platforms are built, according to Mann.
“This is a direct hit on Big Tech’s core defense that [they’re] just neutral platforms. The jury didn’t buy that,” Mann said.
The jury also concluded that the platforms were a substantial factor in causing harm, clearing a major legal hurdle, according to Mann.
“If juries are willing to find causation this way, you’re going to see exposure expand very quickly in these cases,” Mann said.
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Google told FOX Business it plans to appeal the verdict.
“We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal,” a company spokesperson said. “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
Meta did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
FOX Business’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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