Jury orders Meta and Google to pay woman $3 million in social media addiction trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, leaves the Los Angeles Superior Court after testifying in the social media trial tasked to determine whether social media giants deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to children, in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026.

The verdict marks the end of the first-ever jury trial over whether tech giants should be held accountable for social media addiction. It may influence the outcome of 2,000 other pending lawsuits.

(Image credit: Apu Gomes)