A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction trial, concluding that design and operational choices on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube intentionally harmed the plaintiff’s mental health. The case—brought by a young woman identified as Kaley/KGM—awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, with the jury determining Meta bears 70% of the award and Google the remaining 30%. The verdict followed testimony centered on “addictive design” features such as infinite scroll and autoplay. Meta and Google said they plan to appeal, disputing any single-app causal link to teen mental health. A key phrase in the damages finding was that the companies acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud,” setting up further proceedings on punitive damages. Legal observers say the decision could ripple into the broader docket of similar cases now moving through U.S. courts. The liability question is also colliding with ongoing child-safety litigation elsewhere. The LA verdict came just after a New Mexico jury found Meta violated state consumer protection law in a separate child harms case, including allegations related to exposure to sexually explicit content and contact with sexual predators. For higher education leaders, the immediate relevance is reputational and compliance pressure: universities increasingly advise students on digital well-being, and legal outcomes like these sharpen scrutiny of platforms used across campus life and student mental health programs.