“Google and Meta denied new trial in youth social media addiction case”, 10 June 2026

A California state court judge has denied motions by Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube seeking a new trial after a jury found the companies liable for designing social media platforms that are harmful to young people…

The companies had sought a new trial in a lawsuit filed by a woman who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. A jury found the companies negligent and imposed $6 million in damages…

Kuhl rejected the companies’ argument that they are shielded from the claims by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that generally protects ​online platforms from liability over user-generated content. Kuhl said the law does not address the companies’ design choices and the jury was repeatedly instructed not to consider content…

In a statement, a spokesperson for Meta said the company disagreed with the ruling…

“The plaintiffs’ legal theory attempts to improperly circumvent Section 230 and the First Amendment, and we expect this ruling to be overturned on appeal,” the spokesperson said.

José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said in a statement that the company plans to appeal…