Meta and Google Found Liable in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial

This is the first ruling of its kind—holding the tech companies responsible for deliberately creating addictive apps.

In a landmark ruling that could affect thousands of future cases, Google and Meta were found liable Wednesday for inducing depression and anxiety in a woman who obsessively used social media as a child. It was the first jury trial in which tech companies were sued over the addictive nature of their social media apps. Google and Meta own the apps YouTube and Instagram, respectively.

The California jury ruled that the companies should award the woman a total of $3 million in damages, with Meta paying 70 percent of the fee.

The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley, said she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 11. Her lawyers contended that the social media apps were intentionally addicting, and that both companies knew they were creating mental health issues in children. They presented an internal memo from Meta that detailed how 11-year-olds were four times more likely to use Instagram than rival apps. This contradicts Instagram’s own terms, which require users to be at least 13.

Lawyers for Google and Meta argued that their apps were being unfairly blamed for broader mental health problems in adolescents. Both companies are expected to appeal the decision.

The owners of Snapchat and TikTok, two more popular social media apps, reached pretrial settlements with the plaintiff back in January.

The ruling will likely impact roughly 2,000 ongoing lawsuits against social media companies. The suits, filed by parents and school districts around the country, similarly allege that the tech behemoths should be punished for getting children addicted to their services.

This story has been updated.

Trump Makes Shocking Carve-Out in Cruel Cuba Fuel Blockade

Public institutions continue to be blocked from receiving oil and gas.

President Donald Trump has been facilitating shipments of oil to private businesses in Cuba while cutting off government-run institutions for months.

Since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, the United States has barred Cuba from receiving any Venezuelan oil and threatened any countries that export oil to the island country. But since early February, the U.S. has exported 30,000 barrels of oil to Cuba’s small but important private sector, Reuters reported Wednesday.

This means that while private businesses, like foreign-owned hotels, will receive a boon amid the ongoing blockade, state-run entities will suffer. Speaking to NBC News’s Meet the Press Sunday, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío called Trump’s fuel policy an “energy asphyxiation,” and claimed it had already caused mass disruptions to Cuba’s health care system.

🔸️In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío says “our military is always prepared” but “we don't pose any threat to the United States” after President Trump threatened a U.S. takeover of Cuba. pic.twitter.com/B4NUZSanYF— BoS News | Global Events (@BoSNews) March 23, 2026

🔸️In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío says “our military is always prepared” but “we don't pose any threat to the United States” after President Trump threatened a U.S. takeover of Cuba. pic.twitter.com/B4NUZSanYF

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this is all part of the plan. The policy was “entirely designed to put the private sector and individual private Cubans—not affiliated with the government, not affiliated with the military—in a privileged position.”

In February, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security released guidance that authorized the export of gas to eligible Cuban businesses, specifying that the fuel was not available for resale. Fuel soon began to trickle into private companies that were initially crippled by the U.S. blockade, three Cuban businesspeople told Reuters.

Cuba has historically required 100,000 barrels of oil per day to fuel cars, planes, and power plants. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced last week the country had not received any ​fuel in three months. The Trump administration is reportedly pressing Diaz-Canel to step down as part of the president’s so-called “friendly takeover” of the island. Cuba has already outlined some changes it plans to make to open up the island’s economy to the U.S.

In 2026, 61 ships carrying goods imported by private companies arrived in Cuba, including fuel. While overall arrivals are down, there has been an increase in shipments originating from a key energy corridor on America’s Gulf Coast, according to vessel tracking data from LSEG Data & Analytics analyzed by Reuters.

MAGA Election Fraud Activist Found Guilty of Election Fraud

Harry Wait was found guilty by a jury of his peers.

In a failed attempt to prevent voter fraud, a Wisconsin man was convicted of … voter fraud.

Harry Wait, a 71-year-old MAGA loyalist, was found guilty of election fraud and identity theft in Racine County, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. In 2022, he admitted to unlawfully requesting the ballots of Republican state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Democratic Racine Mayor Cory Mason, which he claims proves how easy it is to commit voter fraud.

He was charged with two misdemeanor election fraud charges and one felony identity theft charge.

The retired consultant is the leader of H.O.T Government, a Wisconsin group that aims “to hold public officials and institutions accountable to the people they serve.” The group claims both Wisconsin and federal elections are riddled with fraud, and it unwaveringly maintains that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trump lost Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes.

Wait has spent years mobilizing against Wisconsin’s state........

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