Meta and Google Found Liable in Two Landmark Jury Verdicts

What Happened?

Tech giants Meta and Google have been found liable by juries in two verdicts involving claims of harm caused by social media. In the first case in California, a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and Google liable for a woman’s suicidal thoughts after she claimed she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube during her childhood. The jury then ordered both companies to pay a total of $6 million in damages.

The second case unfolded in New Mexico, where jurors instructed Meta to pay $375 million after ruling that the company deceived users about the safety of its platform and enabled the sexual exploitation of children online. 

Why it Matters

Technology companies like Meta and Google have long been legally protected through section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that provides broad protection for online platforms from liability for user-generated content. The rulings in Los Angeles and New Mexico both found Meta and Google liable despite section 230 protection, making the decisions a first for both companies and the technology sector. 

The reason for the different outcomes in these cases is because the plaintiff’s arguments rested on platform design, not third-party content. In previous cases, the alleged harm to users came from the content being posted online. But in these cases, the plaintiff’s contended that the harm stemmed not from third-party content but from the design of the platform itself, which they claimed was intentionally constructed to be as addictive as possible. In both cases, the juries agreed.

Thousands of other cases have been filed against Meta, Google, and other social media platforms, alleging the technology companies caused or contributed to a mental health crisis for America’s young people. The rulings in Los Angeles and New Mexico could open the door to a new wave of class action lawsuits against tech companies that could cost those companies millions or even billions of dollars. 

Though the juries ordered Meta and Google to make restitution to the plaintiffs in both cases this week, they did not order either company to make changes to their respective platforms. If class action lawsuits do find tech companies liable for the way their platforms are engineered, they may be forced to change the way those platforms are designed, leading to very different user experiences online. 

How it Affects You

Technology is always ahead of the law, because companies can innovate and create new products much faster than lawmakers can assess and regulate those inventions. Although the law can take time to catch up, it eventually has with every other major technological innovation, and now it appears to be the internet’s turn.

Eric Goldman, co-director of the High-Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law, said, ‘I think the internet is on trial, not social media.’ Major technology companies have operated with near legal impunity for the past twenty years, but that may finally be coming to an end.