In Los Angeles, a California jury ordered Instagram and YouTube to compensate an American teenager named Kaley, who accused the platforms of contributing to her depression. The civil court awarded at least $3 million in damages, according to the jury's findings. A substantial sum, but more importantly, a powerful message: adolescent mental health is no longer a topic relegated to the margins of the technological debate.
Significantly, the jury found that Meta, Instagram's parent company, and YouTube, owned by Google, had acted "fraudulently and deliberately." This finding is not insignificant. It opens the door to additional "punitive damages," the amount of which will be determined after the verdict is read, with the aim of imposing sanctions beyond mere compensation.
A verdict that could set a precedent
In the plaintiff's camp, the mood is one of victory. Her lawyers hailed "a historic moment" for "the thousands of children and families" affected, accusing social media companies of profiting from targeting minors while concealing mechanisms deemed "addictive and dangerous." This is the striking angle: that of a business model suspected of having thrived on captured attention, at the cost of adolescent vulnerability, sometimes laid bare.
Meta, for its part, is contesting the verdict and preparing for what comes next. "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are examining our legal options," a spokesperson responded. This ruling, presented as unprecedented, could influence other proceedings in the United States, where complaints are multiplying regarding the effects of major platforms on the mental health of young people, raising an underlying question: how far will the courts go to bring social media networks under the umbrella of common law liability?
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