I confess I'm surprised it ever came to this, but kudos to the American courts system for having the gumption to rule against the combined might of Meta/Instagram/Facebook and Google/YouTube in finding the social media companies liable for intentionally building addictive social media platforms that harm the mental health of young people.
In this case, it was a 20-year old woman called Kaley (or K.G.M.). She sued Meta and Google over her childhood addiction to social media, claiming the platforms left her with body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts. Yesterday, she won US$6 million in compensatory and punitive damages, of which 70% is to come from Meta and 30% from Google. (TikTok and SnapChat both settled out of court with the same plaintiff for an unknown sum before the Meta/Google trial began.)
Now, $6 million is not really going to make the likes of Meta and Google sit up and take note - the plaintiff's counsel was initially claiming $1 billion! - but, given that there are tens of thousands of such victims lining up to sue Big Tech, this precedent could indeed be material. This is social media's Big Tobacco moment.
Of course, it's not over until it's over, and both companies say they will appeal the ruling, to try and stanch the bleeding which could indeed cost them dearly over time. If they manage to get the case overturned, is it still a landmark case? Probably. It validates the legal theory that social media sites or apps can cause personal injury, that it is essentially a defective product, if you will. And it will almost certainly encourage many more tentative litigants to try their luck with the legal system, although that is not a task for the faint of heart.
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