HOW MATT BERGMAN
BUILT THE CASE AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA
BY SARA G. STEPHENS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
In March 2026, a Los Angeles jury delivered the first verdict ever in a social media trial, finding Meta and YouTube liable for harms suffered by a young woman identified as K. G. M. Jurors concluded the companies negligently designed their platforms, failed to warn users about the dangers associated with compulsive use, and acted with malice, awarding $ 3 million in compensatory damages and another $ 3 million in punitive damages.
The bellwether trial verdict has been heralded as a breakthrough in corporate accountability for social media addiction. In reality, it was the confirmation of a meticulously constructed framework built by Matthew( Matt) Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center( SMVLC).
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