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In a landmark decision that could have significant ripple effects, a jury found Wednesday that social media giants Meta and YouTube caused damage to a 20-year-old woman, who claimed the platforms were designed to become addictive and harmful to adolescents.

The trial lasted more than a month and even featured testimony from Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Deliberations lasted some 40 hours over seven days.

The verdict is a significant blow to tech companies. The jury awarded the plaintiff — who is being called Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old from Chico, California — $3 million in compensatory damages for pain and suffering and other financial hardships. Meta is responsible for 70% of that, while YouTube is responsible for the other 30%. In addition, the jury will deliberate further to decide whether punitive damages should be awarded and for how much.

The New York Times’ Cecilia Kang, Ryan Mac and Eli Tan wrote, “The finding validates a novel legal theory that social media sites or apps can cause personal injury. It is likely to factor into similar cases expected to go to trial this year, which could expose the internet giants to further financial damages and force changes to their products.”

The plaintiff in the case said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube while in grade school. She claimed features such as endless scrolling and algorithmic recommendations are designed to keep users hooked on the platforms. She said this led her to depression and anxiety.

The plaintiff’s lead attorney said that one day, Kaley spent 16 hours on Instagram. Kaley said, “I wanted to be on it all the time. If I wasn’t on it, I felt like I was going to miss out on something.”

The Los Angeles Times’ Sonja Sharp wrote, “Kaley’s test case was chosen from among scores of suits currently consolidated in California state court. Hundreds more are moving together through the federal system, where the first trial is set for June in San Francisco. Collectively, the suits seek to prove that harm flowed not from user content but from the design and operation of the platforms themselves.”

Sharp added, “That’s a critical legal distinction, experts say. Social media companies have so far been protected by a powerful 1996 law called Section 230, which has shielded the apps from responsibility for what happens to children who use it. Lawyers for Meta and Google argued Kaley’s struggles were the result of her fractious home life and fallout from the COVID pandemic, not social media.”

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement, “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”

Meanwhile, José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, said the company plans to appeal, adding, “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

Lawyers for the plaintiff celebrated the victory, but said in a statement that the “verdict is bigger than one case.”

They added, “For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features. Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived.”

This all could be just the tip of the social media iceberg.

The Wall Street Journal’s Erich Schwartzel, Meghan Bobrowsky and Katherine Sayre wrote, “The watershed verdict is the second time this week that the courts have rendered the companies liable for harm inflicted by their platforms. More than 3,000 other similar lawsuits against Meta, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok are pending in California courts. A jury in New Mexico found Meta liable for failing to protect young people from online dangers, including sexually explicit content, solicitation and human trafficking, on Tuesday in the first trial of its kind and ordered the company to pay a $375 million penalty. Meta said it respectfully disagreed with the jury and would appeal the ruling.”

Meanwhile, there is hope among some that this could ramp up efforts for Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act, which aims to set up various guardrails to help protect children from the various addictive dangers of social media sites.

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, one of the proponents of the bill, was quoted by CNN on Wednesday, saying, “Now that Big Tech has been found liable for the harms they have pushed on our kids, it’s time for Congress to enshrine protections for American families into law by passing the Kids Online Safety Act.”

Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), who introduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (often called COPPA 2.0) with Bill Cassidy (R-LA), put out a statement Wednesday, saying, “Big Tech’s Big Tobacco moment has arrived. Today’s verdict against Meta and Google is a historic moment for protecting young people online. Big Tech is finally facing the consequences for its actions. I commend the courageous kids and families who are pursuing these cases and fighting to hold Big Tech accountable. But we cannot rely on the courthouse alone – Congress must do its part to impose real guardrails on these platforms.”

The latest with Savannah Guthrie

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, left, with colleague Hoda Kotb. (Courtesy: NBC News)

What NBC “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie has been going through the past two months is unimaginable. Her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing since Jan. 31. Law enforcement believes she was taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home against her will.

Since then, Savannah Guthrie has made pleas on Instagram for information about her mother, but she has not spoken at length about it publicly.

Until now.

Guthrie sat down with longtime “Today” show colleague Hoda Kotb for a two-part interview that will air today and Friday. Wednesday’s “Today” aired a clip from the interview.

In the clip, Guthrie tells Kotb, “Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. It is unbearable. And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night. And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.”

As far as Guthrie’s eventual return to “Today,” that has not been determined. She hasn’t been on the air since Jan. 30 — the day before her mother’s disappearance. Guthrie did visit the show’s set at Rockefeller Center in New York City on March 6, where she had a tearful reunion with colleagues. At that time, she said she looked forward to the day she returned to the show.

There are reports that her return could be within weeks. CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote, “A sit-down interview is a necessary step before Guthrie comes back to the ‘Today’ show. NBC has not announced a return date for her yet. But a person close to the show tells me they anticipate Guthrie returning to Studio 1A sometime in April.”

A concerning video

Back on March 16, a suspicious package was found outside MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. MacDill is the home of the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in 20 nations across the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of South Asia.

The FBI later said the package contained “possible energetic materials.”

Now a new wrinkle has been added to the investigation: a video sent to the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times from someone making threats and claiming responsibility for the package.

According to Katelyn Ferral and Shreya Vuttaluru of the Tampa Bay Times, Zachary T. Sampson, the Times’ investigative editor, received a video on Monday through Signal. The 3-minute, 14-second video was sent anonymously. The person appears in silhouette and their voice is altered by technology. There are also closed captions.

In the video, according to the Times, the person used the word “we” and claimed responsibility for threats against MacDill. The Times wrote, “The bomb placed on March 10, the speaker said, failed to detonate, but those behind it had ‘taken actions to rectify this.’”

The speaker, who claimed to be against the war in Iran as well as the Department of Homeland Security deportation efforts, added, “We have a newly improved design that we plan to use in the upcoming days.”

Sampson shared the video with Times executive editor Mark Katches, who then contacted law enforcement. The video was soon shared with the FBI.

Katches told the Times, “The information contained in the video was certainly alarming enough that we felt it was prudent to alert law enforcement right away.”

Ferral and Vuttaluru wrote, “The Times is not publishing the full video at this time to avoid spreading unverified, sensitive information that’s part of an active investigation.”

More ‘Morning Joe’

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. (Courtesy: MS NOW)

Axios’ Mike Allen and Sara Fischer broke the news Wednesday that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski — co-hosts of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” — have signed contract extensions that will take the show at least through 2029.

Scarborough told Axios, “Mika and I are excited to be staying with our ‘Morning Joe’ family and friends who have been watching regularly for almost 20 years. We’re also grateful for the vote of confidence (MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler and Versant CEO Mark Lazarus) have given us to stay with our ‘Morning Joe’ team over the next four years.”

The show, one of the most popular on cable news, is entering its 20th year. The brand also includes a podcast and a newsletter. In a press release, MS NOW said that February marked “Morning Joe’s” most-watched month since the 2024 presidential election, averaging 810,000 viewers, up 16% year over year. The audience includes Washington insiders and even President Donald Trump.

Kutler told Axios, “We are about to celebrate 20 years of ‘Morning Joe’ — Joe and Mika have created something that cannot be replicated. As we build towards the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election, ‘Morning Joe’ will continue to be a singular destination for presidents and newsmakers from all political parties.”

Meet the new boss

Matt Brittin, the former head of Google in Europe, has been named the boss at the BBC. He takes over as director-general during a tumultuous time at the BBC. Previous director-general Tim Davie resigned last November in the wake of a scandal involving a documentary about President Donald Trump.

Just before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the BBC aired an episode of the documentary series “Panorama” called “Trump: A Second Chance?” In the episode, two parts of Trump’s speech from Jan. 6, 2021, were spliced together to make it seem like part of the same quote. In the “Panorama” edit, Trump said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The gap between the first half of that quote and the last half was more than 50 minutes.

Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion, even though the documentary was not seen by American voters and Trump won the election anyway. The BBC is fighting the suit.

Still, in the aftermath of the controversial documentary, Davie and BBC news CEO Deborah Turness both stepped down.

Brittin, who takes over on May 18, said in a statement, “This is a moment of real risk, yet also real opportunity. The BBC needs the pace and energy to be both where stories are, and where audiences are. To build on the reach, trust and creative strengths today, confront challenges with courage, and thrive as a public service fit for the future.”

The New York Times’ Stephen Castle wrote, “His appointment also comes at a critical time: The royal charter under which the BBC operates, and which sets out its mission and governance, will expire at the end of 2027.”

Mediaite’s David Gilmour noted, “Brittin, who stepped down in 2025 as Google’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, brings a markedly different background from recent BBC leaders, with a background rooted in digital transformation rather than traditional broadcasting.”

Media tidbits

• For The New York Times’ “One Image” series, Avishag Shaar-Yashuv shares her haunting photo in “A Missile Fragment in a Schoolyard.”
• The Nashville Banner’s Araceli Crescencio and Mikeie Honda Reiland with “Jailed Journalist Estefany Rodríguez Speaks After Release: ‘Not Knowing About My Family Was Terrifying.’”
• The Associated Press with “Stephen Colbert and son will co-write a ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie.”
• Variety’s Brian Steinberg writes about the former CNN and Fox News anchor in “Alisyn Camerota Returns to News With ‘Connected,’ a Scripps Show That Aims to Dig Deep.”
• Here’s a short video that is a good example of service journalism. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand with a quick video on what it costs if you want to regularly watch your favorite Major League Baseball team.

Hot type

• This is fabulous. The former child actor breaks down some favorite moments from his most famous film. It’s The New York Times’ Gilbert Cruz, Aliza Aufrichtig and Rumsey Taylor with “40 Years Later, Wil Wheaton Can’t Shake ‘Stand By Me.’”

More resources for journalists

• Reporters and editors with ambition to do investigative journalism: Get guidance from ProPublica’s Alexandra Zayas in this five-week, hands-on seminar. Enroll today.
• Get the tools, mentorship and peer community to turn your non-fiction book idea into a publishable proposal. Apply for our workshop today.
• New editors: Get guidance from industry veterans and build the skills you need to become indispensable to your newsroom. Apply now.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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