A Los Angeles jury has found Meta Platforms and Alphabet's YouTube negligent in a landmark social media addiction case, awarding the plaintiff $6 million in damages. Lead counsel Mark Lanier characterized the verdict as the start of an 'avalanche of lawsuits' targeting the core business models of major tech firms. The litigation draws direct legal parallels between the practices of tech giants today and the historic mass-tort cases against the tobacco industry in previous decades. Industry experts anticipate that this legal pressure will force significant technical changes, specifically targeting algorithms and 'infinite scroll' features to better protect minors. As a critical bellwether case, this decision sets a precedent that could lead to billions of dollars in punitive damages across thousands of pending claims. Financial markets are closely monitoring these developments, as they pose a systemic risk to the long-term valuations of the technology sector and the QQQ ETF.

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