Meta and YouTube have been found liable for creating products that are deliberately addictive-by-design by jurors in a landmark trial centering on social media’s impact on mental health.

The two tech firms will now have to pay the plaintiff – a 20 year old woman – $6m, with Meta paying 70% and YouTube the rest.

After nearly nine days of deliberation, jurors found the tech firms had been negligent in their responsibilities to users, and had not adequately warned users about the potential harms of their platforms.

The lawsuit, the first of its kind to go to trial, challenges past precedent which often let tech platforms not face liability for the content their platforms held or their effect on user well-being.

While Meta and YouTube have both instituted more updated guardrails to protect underage users, the tech giants’ longstanding grip on young people is facing a reckoning as teens and underage users grow up and demand accountability.

The trail revealed several instances of inside qualms concerning Meta and YouTube’s design from people at the company as well as independent child safety experts, who noted the potential harm certain design choices – like infinite scroll and video autoplay – could cause to users.

Internal documents and testimony from the plaintiff, a 20 year old woman known as KGM who claimed to be addicted to YouTube from age six and Instagram at age nine, convinced the jury of the tech firm’s liability for the plaintiff’s suffering mental health.

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“Today’s verdict is a historic moment – for [KGM] and for the thousands of children and families who have been waiting for this day,” the plaintiff’s lawyers said in a written statement the day the jury’s decision was announced. “A jury of [KGM’s] peers heard the evidence, heard what Meta and YouTube knew and when they knew it, and held them accountable for their conduct. Today’s verdict belongs to [KGM].

The case opens up the potential for further trials and even class action lawsuits following the same rhetoric as the law continues to hold tech companies more responsible for their role in the spread and creation of harmful content, as well as their design’s potential harm.