Today, a jury upheld a fact that young people across the country have known for the last decade: we don't want to be addicted to our phones; social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube are designed to manipulate us, and the companies behind them know it.
Like many young people, plaintiff K.G.M. started using platforms like YouTube and Instagram extremely early in her adolescence. That meant over a decade of getting hooked by design features built to keep her there: algorithms that maximize engagement at the expense of adolescent mental health, infinite scroll and autoplay that override the impulse control teenagers are still developing, and notification systems engineered to create compulsive behavior.
Meta was not an accidental bystander in the mental health decline of KGM or millions of other young people. Internal documents show the company was aware of the harm and used vulnerable users as a revenue source with no regard for their safety. Today's verdict makes clear that the era of these platforms going unchecked and unaccountable is coming to an end.
This verdict follows yesterday's decision in New Mexico, where a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading consumers and endangering children, highlighting yet another win for youth online safety.
"Our generation has been told over and over that our messy relationship with social media and our phones is our fault. We're told: 'Put the phone down and go outside.' However, this verdict says what my generation has always known: these platforms were built to override our choices, not respect them. Holding these companies accountable is how you actually give young people their autonomy back," said Joshua Brons, a YPA member, who participated in an activation outside the trials.
While we are extremely proud of the jury and organizations such as Parents Rise, Laura Marquez-Garrett, Parents Together and the broad coalition of organizations supporting kids online safety, we understand this verdict is not a finish line, but rather a start. More than 10,000 individual cases and nearly 800 school district lawsuits remain pending. While the legal system works to hold Meta accountable, our legislators must keep pace. We call on them to enforce social media regulation to ensure young people can safely connect and engage on these platforms with our safety as a baseline, not an afterthought resulting from litigation.
The Young People's Alliance stands with K.G.M. and with every young person who has felt the weight of platforms built to hold their attention at the cost of their well-being. We will keep organizing for a digital landscape where young people are treated as people, not engagement metrics.
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About Young People's Alliance: Young People's Alliance is a bipartisan, Gen Z-led nonprofit with 3,000+ members across 78+ campuses in 15 states. The organization is focused on creating a new American Dream through advocacy on creating opportunity, affordability, and community for young people.
Contact: press@youngpeoplesalliance.org