Jurors deliberating a groundbreaking social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles informed the presiding judge Monday that they are struggling to reach a unanimous decision regarding one of the defendants in the case.
The lawsuit targets tech giants Google and Meta, though the jury did not indicate which company is the subject of their disagreement.
Presiding Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl instructed jurors to continue working toward a verdict if possible, warning that failure to reach consensus would result in a mistrial requiring the case to start over with a completely new jury panel.
Deliberations have stretched beyond one week in this closely-watched trial featuring a young woman who alleges she developed an addiction to Google’s YouTube platform and Meta’s Instagram during her childhood years. The verdict in this case has the potential to shape the outcome of thousands of additional lawsuits filed against these technology companies by parents, state attorneys general, and school systems across the nation.
