By Dan Fastenberg and Courtney Rozen
LOS ANGELES, March 23 (Reuters) – The jury in the social media addiction trial in Los Angeles told the judge on Monday it is having difficulty coming to a consensus with one defendant.
The defendants are Google and Meta, but the jury did not specify which one it was referring to.
Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl said the jury should reach a verdict if it can, adding that the case will have to be retried with a new set of jurors if it cannot reach an agreement.
The jury has been deliberating for over a week in a trial that involves a young woman who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age. The outcome of her case could influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies brought by parents, attorneys general and school districts.
(Reporting by Dan Fastenberg in Los Angeles, Courtney Rozen in Washington;Editing by Rod Nickel)
