On March 25th, 2026, a Los Angeles court ruled that Google, the owners of YouTube, and Meta, the owners of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, are liable for “negligence and harmful design” of their apps.
This is due to features like infinite scrolling, active in apps like YouTube, and its feature YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and its feature Instagram Reels, and Facebook. Another feature under scrutiny is Auto Playing, which is when videos automatically play after another one ends. The Plaintiff argues that these apps are intentionally made to be addictive, causing long-term effects, like anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
Meta and Google are both appealing the case, which means that the ruling could still be changed. If the appeal is not heard, or the judge sides with the plaintiff again on the appeal, this means that apps like Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok might have to change their apps, adding reminders when a user has been on the app for too long, less personalized feeds, and more limited profiles for teens, for example, default private profiles, and more limited content.
