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Law firms investigate possible Australian cases after US jury finds Meta and YouTube designed addictive products

The Guardian · · 768 words · By Josh Taylor

A US court ruled Meta and YouTube negligent for designing addictive products, awarding $6m in damages. Australian law firms are evaluating similar cases, while the Australian government expands regulations targeting addictive social media features. Experts and politicians discuss the need for accountability and digital duty of care laws.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/mar/26/tech-companies-social-media-addictiv…

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0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

10 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
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“Australian law firms are investigating the scope for future legal cases after a landmark US court ruling that found Meta and YouTube liable for deliberately designing addictive products.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results independently confirm Australian law firms are investigating potential legal cases following the US court ruling against Meta and YouTube. Wikipedia entries provide context about the companies involved but do not directly confirm the law firms' actions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, and Steve Chen who were all former employees of PayPal. Hea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Meta Platforms, Inc. (doing business as Meta) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Platforms
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American online video sharing and social media platform YouTube has had social impact in many fields, with some individual videos of the site having directly shaped world events. It is the world's…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_impact_of_YouTube
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“A jury in Los Angeles ruled against the two tech giants on Wednesday, finding both to be negligent and having failed to provide adequate warnings about the potential dangers of their products.”
CORROBORATED
Three web search results and a Wikipedia entry about the K.G.M. v. Meta et al. case confirm the Los Angeles jury found both companies negligent for failing to warn about product dangers.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 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 Y…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.G.M._v._Meta_et_al.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 2006 by Nicky Calonne and Tim Lyakhovetskiy. Lead guitarist Alex Alereza remains the mem…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekrogoblikon
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, and Steve Chen who were all former employees of PayPal. Hea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The jury awarded the plaintiff, known as KGM, US$6m in case damages, to be split 70-30 between Meta and Google.”
CORROBORATED
Three web search results explicitly detail the $6m damages split with Meta paying 70% and YouTube 30%, confirming the claim's specifics.
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web search NEUTRAL — Thejuryawardedtheplaintiff in the casedamagesof $6m, withMetatopay70%andYouTube the remainder. It took nearly nine days of deliberations for the Los Angelesjurytoreach its verdict.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/jury-verdict-u…
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web search NEUTRAL — The$6 million in financialdamagesare a drop in the bucket forMetaandYouTube's parent company, Google, which bring in billions in revenue every quarter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/technology/social-media-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — Thejurors concluded thatMetaandGoogle should pay the woman $3 million in compensatorydamagesandan additional $3 million in punitivedamages,withMetaon the hook for70%of that amount.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5746125/meta-youtube-so…
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“KGM had testified she became addicted to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine. She told the court that by age 10 she had become depressed and was engaging in self-harm as a result. At 13 she was diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia, which she attributed to use of Instagram and YouTube.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about KGM's testimony.
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“The decision came just one day after Meta was ordered to pay US$375m in civil penalties in a separate lawsuit in New Mexico after a jury found Meta misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about the New Mexico ruling.
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“Australian law firm Shine Lawyers “is working through inquiries and investigating how an Australian claim could be run””
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about Shine Lawyers' investigation.
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“Meta declined to comment beyond its statement from the US ruling. Google was approached for comment.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about Meta and Google's comments.
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“The Albanese government extended the definition of social media platforms that must comply with Australia’s under-16s social media ban to include those that have systems “designed to be addictive and provide constant dopamine hits”, including those with infinite scroll and likes or upvotes features, and time-limited features that are “designed to create urgency so young people check apps constantly”.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about Australia's social media ban expansion.
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“The federal government has committed to legislating a digital duty of care that would require platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent harm taking place on their services.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about Australia's digital duty of care legislation.
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“The Greens communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said a digital duty of care “would force big tech giants to prevent harm before it happens – not just apologise after the damage is done”.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about Sarah Hanson-Young's statement.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.