Back-to-back jury verdicts holding Meta liable could spur a flood of litigation against social media companies and threaten to undermine Section 230 protections
Social-media giants confront existential dilemma as a flood of litigation challenges their product designs
Wall Street Journal
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Discussion
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@matthewstoller
Matt Stoller
on x
@BedoyaUSA “The jury also decided that Meta and Google's actions should trigger punitive damages, which means there will be a separate phase of the trial where the jury will decide what amount of damages are appropriate to punish the multi-trillion-dollar companies for their cond…
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@nicoperrino
Nico Perrino
on x
I'm concerned about this verdict and the overall trend of treating speech platforms as addictive — and therefore dangerous — products. Also, the verdict diminishes the responsibility parents have to raise healthy kids. For example: “Kaley says she began using YouTube at age 6 a…
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@jason_kint
Jason Kint
on x
It doesn't. So stop being concerned. @TaylorLorenz shared this so cc her. It's the product design not the content. That has been and will be instagram and facebook's angle with friends and proxies to try to soften press coverage and parent outrage for harming their children.
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@jean_twenge
Jean Twenge
on x
Sure, the “where are the parents?” argument, because it's so easy to keep kids off social media when age isn't verified, parental permission isn't required, the parental controls in the apps are so hidden and hard to use hardly any parents use them, and kids fear being the only
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@pauljpastor
Paul J. Pastor
on x
Strong disagree. These are corporate products first, not speech platforms, and that distinction is vital. The same principles of common/social good that govern environmental pollution can & should be applied here. Parents are vital, but their action is not enough in this case.
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@bedoyausa
Alvaro Bedoya
on x
Good flag that $3M may just be the beginning...
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@malinowski
Tom Malinowski
on x
Imagine a company was monitoring your child's behavior, deduced she was depressed, then phoned her to say “You might consider suicide, and can we send you some videos about that?” That's how social media algorithms are designed to work. The 1st Amendment does not protect this.
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@meghanbobrowsky
Meghan Bobrowsky
on x
New story from us on what the back-to-back verdicts mean for Meta, ft this interview w/ a juror in the LA case who spoke to @erichschwartzel She said Zuckerberg seemed unprepared during testimony which was surprising for “the guru” whose products were at the center of the case [i…
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@nicoperrino
Nico Perrino
on x
@jason_kint @TaylorLorenz How you design and display your speech product is an editorial choice integral to the speech itself. How an editor lays out his newspaper or website is an editorial choice. So is adding cliffhangers to the end of TV shows. Those choices are — and should …
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@jillfilipovic
Jill Filipovic
on x
I think these are fair concerns but I'm not sure “where are the parents?” matters here. If cigarettes are addictive and dangerous, especially for kids, we don't say, well, put 'em in the candy aisle and let parents do their jobs to make sure kids only have one or two a day.
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@vanceginn
Vance Ginn
on x
Empower parents, not politicians.
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@juliecbarrett
Julie Barrett
on x
This is a critical point that really must be at the forefront of our discussions about children and the digital world. Ultimately, parents have the duty and responsibility to protect their children, to enforce boundaries, and to shield their children from the known harms online.…
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@parismartineau
Paris Martineau
on x
this is a huge deal and a sign of the changing legal tides for big tech. the plaintiffs attorneys here were early adopters of a novel legal strategy that uses product liability law to sidestep tech firms' go-to defense (section 230) & hold them accountable for negligent design [i…
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@manuelguzman
Manuel Guzman
on x
Parents used to set time limits for tv viewing when I was growing up. Letting your 6 year old kid spend all day on YouTube is crazy.
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@astupple
Aaron Stupple
on x
Jury finds talking to people is addictive.
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@samadlerbell
Sam Adler-Bell
on x
will somebody PLEASE think of the massive monopolistic companies that simply want to make a little profit off the anxieties, self-hatreds, and resentments of their users??
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@brihreed
Brian Reed
on x
Evidence at this trial put the lie to “it's the parents!” An internal study from @Meta and @UChicago found that parental involvement doesn't curb compulsive social media use - even when parents use Meta's own parental controls. They don't work; Meta knew it; still blamed parents.
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@patterdude
Joe Patterson
on x
Social media platforms aren't simply a place for “speech .” That *was* the case with chronological timelines. But now, you see fed information based on an algorithm w the express purpose to keep you on the platform. That's the difference between, say, Signal and TikTok. We've
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r/technology
r
on reddit
Do Back-to-Back Courtroom Losses Herald Meta's ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment?
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r/DiscussionZone
r
on reddit
Slap on the wrist? Meta ordered to pay $375 million in New Mexico trial over child exploitation, user safety claims
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r/CorpFree
r
on reddit
Meta ordered to pay $375 million in New Mexico trial over child exploitation, user safety claims
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r/degoogle
r
on reddit
Meta ordered to pay $375 million in New Mexico trial over child exploitation, user safety claims
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r/InterstellarKinetics
r
on reddit
BREAKING: A New Mexico Jury Just Ordered Meta To Pay $375 Million After Finding The Company Hid What It Knew About Child Predators On Instagram & Facebook And Lied To The Public About It 🚨
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r/news
r
on reddit
Jury orders Meta to pay $375 mln in New Mexico lawsuit over child sexual exploitation, user safety
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@alaneyre1
Alan Eyre
on x
Excellent news. Hopefully the first of many such verdicts. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
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@meghanncuniff
Meghann Cuniff
on x
I discussed the $6 million verdict against Meta and YouTube tonight in the child social media addiction trial. [video]
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@theobertram
Theo Bertram
on x
Feels like tipping point on social media & kids. Monday, a longitudinal study from Imperial College London showed children who spent more than 3 hrs a day later suffered increased anxiety & depression, while Meta & YouTube lost ‘addiction by design’ legal case regarding a minor.
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@jessefelder.com
Jesse Felder
on bluesky
‘The judgments for threaten to undermine long-held protections that have shielded internet companies for decades, raising the prospect of mass litigation that could stretch for years akin to the legal campaign against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.’ www.wsj.com/tech/do-back..…