Two judgments in two days. That’s the statistic with which Meta greeted March 25, 2026, and its legal implications could be felt for years. A day after Meta lost a similar child protection lawsuit in New Mexico, a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday handed down another verdict against Meta, this time along with Google. In a case that argued that social media platforms played a key role in damaging a young woman’s mental health, jurors sided with the plaintiff known by her initials KGM, or her first name, Caylee.
The decision means that Meta and Google will have to pay $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta bearing 70 percent of that cost. Additional damages could be awarded while the jury continues to deliberate.
The case is specific and documented. The landmark case in Los Angeles County Superior Court aimed to hold the platforms responsible for damages caused specifically by Instagram and YouTube, which Kaylee, now 20, said contributed to her anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia and other conditions during her youth. Meta’s lawyers tried to argue that other factors, such as an unstable family environment and her parents’ divorce, were to blame for her mental health problems, rather than the app.
But the evidence the jury was considering was hard to ignore. The evidence presented at trial convinced the jury, demonstrating that Meta understood how addictive its platforms could be especially among teenagers, and that it actively researched the issue and used the findings to increase the engagement of young users.
In the days before this particular case went to trial, both TikTok and Snap, which were also sued, settled out of court.
The long-term impact of this ruling potentially exceeds $3 million. This ruling, along with others like the one in New Mexico, may set a precedent that social networking companies are liable for damages their platforms cause, whether through a lack of security measures or through their algorithmic recommendations. That could open the door to a new wave of lawsuits as other plaintiffs try to sue for damages.
Neither verdict is likely to be the last word. Both Google and Meta are expected to appeal, and Meta has already signaled its intentions, with a spokesperson telling reporters the company is disputing the outcome and considering options. Still, in a legal system that operates on precedents, two defeats in two days create a narrative that an appeals court won’t be able to easily overturn without confronting the accumulating evidence of what Meta knew, when it knew it, and what it decided to do with that knowledge, TechCrunch reports.