K.G.M. v. Meta et al.

K.G.M. v. Meta et al. was a bellwether legal case in which the plaintiff, known by the initials of their name, sued social media companies, such as Meta, which owns Instagram, and Google, which owns YouTube, for intentionally making their platforms addictive and so damaging her mental health. The case was heard in the Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 2023. The jury found for the plaintiff in 2026, awarding $6M in compensatory and punitive damages.

Background

It was the first of three bellwether cases selected to test the law on problematic social media use in California. They were drawn from a pool of similar cases by a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding (JCCP 5255). Altogether, there are about 1,600 plaintiffs suing in California whose similar actions have been consolidated in this process.

More generally across the USA, there are numerous lawsuits pending of a similar nature – over 10,000 for individuals and almost 800 for school districts. A federal multidistrict litigation (MDL 3047) was consolidated in the Northern District of California and bellwether trials for that are expected to start in Oakland in June 2026. Over 40 state attorneys general have filed similar claims against Meta.

Case

The plaintiff, whose first name is Kaley and was identified as K.G.M., sued four social media companies in 2023, when she was seventeen. She had started using YouTube when she was six, Instagram when she was nine, Musical.ly (which later became TikTok) at age 10, and Snapchat at 11. She alleged that the companies had engineered their sites to make their users engage compulsively using techniques such as infinite scrolling, algorithmic recommendations, and automatic video play. These had caused her to suffer from anxiety, body dysmorphia, and depression.

Meta and Google applied for a summary judgment, asking for the case to be dismissed on various grounds. Judge Carolyn Kuhl ruled against them on November 5, 2025. The other defendants, Snap Inc. and TikTok, then settled out of court in December 2025. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, and Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, testified in the case. On March 25, 2026, the jury handed down a verdict in favor of the plaintiff against Meta and Google. The companies were found negligent in the design of their apps, which led the plaintiff to her mental health issues. Compensatory damages of $3M were awarded, plus another $3M as punitive damages. The total of $6M was split so that Meta is liable for $4.2M and Google for $1.8M. Google plans to appeal the decision.

See also

• Algorithm
• Google litigation
• Internet addiction disorder
• Internet addiction in the United States
• Lawsuits involving Meta Platforms
• Lawsuits involving TikTok
• Recommender system (commonly called simply "the algorithm" of a particular site or service)
• Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
• Video game controversies