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