Meta Ordered to Pay $375 Million in Child Endangerment Lawsuit

A New Mexico jury ordered Meta (formerly Facebook) to pay $375 million, finding it responsible for child endangerment. Separately, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google (owner of YouTube) liable for negligence, ordering them to pay $6 million to plaintiff KGM, a woman who claims she became addicted to these platforms during her childhood.

The plaintiffs' attorney argued that companies knowingly embedded addictive features into their apps, aware that longer user engagement translates to higher profits. He pointed to features like autoplay videos, algorithm-driven recommendations, and infinite scrolling as prime examples of addiction-inducing mechanisms.

KGM stated that the 'infinite scroll' feature led her to addiction, ultimately resulting in depression, anxiety, and self-harm impulses.

Thousands of similar lawsuits are currently pending. Meta stated it plans to appeal the ruling.