By Elise Gaines
OMAHA Neb.—A California jury on March 25 found Meta and YouTube liable for designing their platforms to be addictive for a young woman who began using them as a child, awarding $6 million in damages — the first time a jury has held tech companies accountable for addictive platform design. Both companies plan to appeal.
The plaintiff, identified in court documents as K.G.M. and referred to as Kaley, is 20 years old. She began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 11. The jury found Meta 70% responsible for her damages and YouTube 30%.
The case reflects a broader concern playing out in communities across the country, including here in Omaha.
Omaha high school student Joy Kelley says the pull of social media is constant. “I feel like I’m attached to my phone all the time. I always have it with me, so it can be hard,” she said.
University of Nebraska Omaha student Ashly Chavez shares that experience. “Before I had a phone, I don’t even know what I was doing. Now that I have a phone and social media, it’s just hard to put it down. You hear a notification and you get curious about what it is,” she said.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, 95% of teens ages 13 to 17 use social media, with more than a third reporting they are online almost constantly. Nationally, 35% of Gen Z spend more than four hours on social media daily, nearly double the national adult average.
Licensed mental health practitioner Shelina Williams says the effects of heavy use go beyond screen time. “Many of the young people who are constantly comparing themselves to the unrealistic standards of social media that can lead to lower self-esteem and the feeling that they’re not good enough,” she said.
Williams encourages social media breaks but cautions against overstating the problem. “We have to be careful when we use the word ‘addiction.’ Social media use doesn’t always meet that standard of what addiction actually means. Instead of saying ‘addictive,’ we would say ‘addictive patterns of behavior,’” she said.
The verdict could set precedent for thousands of similar pending cases. School districts and state lawmakers are already responding, with many banning or limiting phone use in schools. A federal trial involving similar claims from school districts and parents nationwide is set to begin this summer.
For Omaha students, the legal battles may feel far away, but the platforms at the center of that courtroom are the same ones open on their phones right now.
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