Los Angeles: Meta and YouTube must pay millions in damages to a 20-year-old woman after a jury decided the tech giants designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being. The California jury’s decision in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit could influence the outcome of thousands of similar lawsuits accusing social media companies of deliberately causing harm. The plaintiff, known by her initials KGM, testified at trial that she became addicted to social media as a child and that this addiction exacerbated her mental health struggles. After 40 hours of deliberations, a majority of jurors agreed and awarded her $US3 million ($4.3 million) in damages. Jurors later recommended an additional $US3 million in punitive damages after deciding the companies acted with malice, oppression or fraud in harming children with their platform. The judge has final say over the damages.…