YouTube appeals verdict after arguing it is not social media
The Google-owned platform is challenging a Los Angeles verdict in a youth addiction case that awarded $3 million in damages.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
YouTube has appealed a Los Angeles jury verdict that found the company’s conduct helped harm a young woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child. The case matters because the first-of-its-kind ruling could affect thousands of similar claims against technology companies, according to the Associated Press.
Lawyers for Google-owned YouTube filed a notice of appeal Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, AP reported. The filing came days after Meta, another defendant in the case, submitted its own appeal notice.
The appeal notice does not contain YouTube’s full legal arguments. AP reported that the company’s lawyers are expected to set out those arguments in later court filings.
The lawsuit was brought by a 20-year-old woman identified in court by her initials, KGM, and by her first name, Kaley, according to AP. She alleged that social media use beginning in childhood worsened her mental health problems.
A jury found that negligence by YouTube and Meta was a substantial factor in causing harm to Kaley, AP reported. The jury awarded her $3 million in damages and recommended another $3 million in punitive damages.
Trial arguments and legal protections
During the five-week trial, YouTube argued that its service is a video-sharing and streaming platform rather than a social media platform, according to AP. That distinction was one of the company’s central defenses in the case.
Lawyers for YouTube and Meta also raised questions during the trial about whether the plaintiff’s case threatened legal protections for technology companies over content created by users, AP reported. Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act generally shields online platforms from liability for third-party posts.
Kaley’s lawyers focused instead on product design features, including autoplay functions, that they said could push users into longer and less deliberate sessions on the platforms, according to AP. The case therefore centered on how the services were built, rather than on particular posts or videos.
Meta and Google both asked for a new trial after the verdict, AP reported. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl denied those requests in early June.
Companies and plaintiff react
José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said last week that YouTube planned to appeal and described the filings as “standard motions for this case to move forward,” according to AP.
Mark Lanier, Kaley’s lead attorney, said after Meta filed its appeal that her legal team expected the appellate court to “continue the careful application of the law to this case, affirming the verdict of the trial court,” AP reported.
The lawsuit initially also named TikTok and Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, as defendants, according to AP. Both companies settled before trial for undisclosed amounts.
AP reported that the verdict could shape the handling of many other lawsuits accusing social media companies of deliberately harming young users. YouTube’s appeal now puts the Los Angeles judgment before a higher court while related claims continue elsewhere.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.