June 10 (Reuters) - A California state court judge has

denied motions by Meta Platforms ( META ) and Google's

YouTube seeking a new trial after a jury found the companies

liable for designing social media platforms that are harmful to

young people.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl ruled on the

motions on Tuesday, according to court documents. The companies

had sought a new trial in a lawsuit filed by a woman who said

she became addicted to Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram at

a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. A jury

found the companies negligent and imposed $6 million in

damages.

Kuhl rejected the companies' argument that they are shielded

from the claims by Section 230 of the Communications Decency

Act, a federal law that generally protects ​online platforms

from liability over user-generated content. Kuhl said the law

does not address the companies' design choices and the jury was

repeatedly instructed not to consider content.

"There was substantial evidence that Plaintiff was harmed by

the design features of Instagram, regardless of any of the

content found on that platform," Kuhl wrote.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Meta said the company

disagreed with the ruling.

"The plaintiffs' legal theory attempts to improperly circumvent

Section 230 and the First Amendment, and we expect this ruling

to be overturned on appeal," the spokesperson said.

Representatives for Google did not immediately have a comment.

Mark Lanier, an attorney for the plaintiff, said no one was

surprised by the ruling.

"The evidence of fault was mountain high," Lanier said.