Name: US Court: YouTube and Meta build addictive platforms: BBC Learning English from the News
Uploaded: 2026-04-01T16:43:56.000Z
Duration: 7 min 35 s
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From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Adverbs of manner

In this programme, YouTube and Meta intentionally built addictive platforms: US Court Finds.

In this podcast, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

Meta and YouTube have been found legally responsible for creating addictive platforms.

Meta is the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Kayleigh, known only by her first name, started the lawsuit against them in Los Angeles in the United States, claiming that they had negatively impacted her mental health.

Since the age of 9, Kayleigh experienced struggles with her family and at school.

She added that these platforms made these struggles worse and left her with depression and unhealthy thoughts about herself.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that these complex teenage struggles could not be blamed on using their platforms.

A spokesperson from Google, the owner of YouTube, told the BBC that their platform had been misunderstood because they're not a social media site.

Kayleigh's court finding came a day after a separate trial in New Mexico, which ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading people about the child safety of their platforms.

Meta argued that it's worked over the years to fight these problems and promoted safe experiences for young people.

Our first headline is about what these court findings mean for the future of social media.

We're having a moment: fear and denial in Silicon Valley over social media addiction trial.

So this headline highlights the feeling of fear that some tech companies are experiencing because of Kayleigh's trial about social media addiction.

Silicon Valley is the place where many of the world's leading tech companies are.

We're going to focus on this phrase that someone in Silicon Valley said,

and that is, "We're having a moment." What can you tell us about this phrase?

Well, a moment is a short period of time.

If you're having a moment in this context, it means you're overwhelmed by strong emotions and that you need to take a metaphorical pause from the situation.

So here, people working in Silicon Valley are likely to be worried about what this trial means for their industry.

Another quite different meaning of this phrase, "having a moment," is to say that something is popular or fashionable for a short time.

For example, I've seen lots of people wearing oversized jeans.

We've had "having a moment: experiencing strong emotions for a short time." For example, I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about the recent Meta and YouTube trial about social media addiction.

As we've heard, Kayleigh was awarded $6 million as a result of the case against Meta and Google, the owner of YouTube.

It's thought that the financial punishment for the companies is small, as each is worth trillions of dollars.

However, the decision represents the first time any social media platform is being held responsible for damages caused by social media addiction.

And this is what our next headline is about.

This headline is from CNN, a news organisation from the US.

Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial.

And that's from CNN, a media organisation in the United States.

We're looking at the phrase "found liable." Yes.

If something is liable, it is responsible for something.

So the sense in this headline is that Meta and YouTube are responsible for Kayleigh's social media addiction.

Liable is often used in law, such as in trials and in court,

and the phrase "find liable" means the action of deciding who is responsible for something.

You might also see the word liable after the verb hold and before the preposition for.

If you hold someone liable for something, you are making them responsible for a specific action.

but in everyday speech, we're more likely to say that something is someone's fault or they are to blame.

We've had "find liable: legally decide that someone or something is responsible." For example, the company was found liable for not paying tax.

We're talking about the trial of Meta and YouTube.

The case that Kayleigh brought found that the companies knew their platform designs were dangerous for people under the age of 18 but failed to give warnings about those risks.

These kinds of cases are expected to grow,

and this case in particular is historic as it's the first of its kind.

This one is from The Independent, a British newspaper.

Meta and YouTube found liable on all counts in landmark trial that could reshape the future of social media.

And that headline again from The Independent.

So we know that these platforms have been found liable, and

on all counts means in every way or entirely.

But we're going to focus on the verb reshape.

Well, if we physically shape something, we make it become a particular shape.

We can also metaphorically shape a belief, idea, or someone's character.

The prefix re is added to the beginning of words, usually verbs, to show that something is being done again.

It's repeated or could be returning to its original state.

So when the headline said that the trial could reshape the future of social media, it means that our ideas and beliefs about social media are changed or influenced in some way.

We've had reshape: make something again in a different form.

For example, the COVID pandemic reshaped the world of work.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

Try the worksheet on our website to test what you've learnt at bbclearningenglish.com.

And you can also follow us on social media at BBC Learning English.