BLACKSBURG, Va. – On March 25, a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and Youtube “liable for harms to children using their services. Another case in New Mexico found Meta knowingly harmed the mental health of children, the AP said.
Following these court losses, Virginia Tech social media expert Megan Duncan and political communications expert Cayce Myers explained what the result of these cases could mean, and how it could may impact you and other consumers.
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Duncan believes that all the cases will be appealed by the companies, but we will likely see a “wave of similar lawsuits.”
“The two verdicts finding Meta responsible in New Mexico and Meta and YouTube liable in California show that United Sates juries are willing to hold social media companies financially to blame for how social media affects individuals and society in ways that haven’t been done before. Both juries took more than a week of careful deliberation to come to similar decisions. They found the companies liable, but not to the maximum extent. Both cases will be appealed, and neither damages award will bankrupt the companies. The bigger impact will be an almost certain wave of similar lawsuits.”
Megan Duncan, associate professor at Virginia Tech's School of Communication
Myers also highlighted that the legal battle is not over for either company.
“The verdicts signal a new level of legal accountability for social media. However, this is the beginning of a longer legal journey, which will likely play out in the federal appellate courts. On the horizon is a larger legal question about big tech accountability for user design, which has impact not only for social media companies but artificial intelligence companies as well.
“There is potential momentum there for future lawsuits, which may result in massive damages for social media companies. There is also the shifting public perception about the responsibility of social media companies in their designs of platforms themselves. Negligence as a legal standard is important in the analysis here as these cases have redefined the legal duty of social media companies.”
Cayce Myers, director of graduate studies at Virginia Tech's School of Communication
Donna Werlatik, the Director of Student Engagement and Founder/Advisor of Prism at Virginia Tech, believes these cases are important for parents, as their results could determine how many other trials come to an end.
“This is the first of more than 1,500 similar cases against social media companies to go to trial — the outcome of this case in California could guide how those other cases are resolved. The plaintiff started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9, which makes the circumstances viscerally relatable for any parent.
Internal Meta documents showed that 11-year-olds were four times as likely to keep coming back to Instagram compared to competing apps, despite the platform requiring users to be at least 13. Those documents also showed that the company decided to allow beauty filters that manipulate a user’s appearance despite employees and 18 experts raising concerns they could be harmful.
Also of concern, the New Mexico jury found that Meta violated state child exploitation laws and ordered it to pay $375 million in civil penalties. In their defenses, Meta and YouTube pointed to safety features like parental oversight tools and teen content and privacy restrictions as evidence they protect teens, but the jury didn’t buy it, which raises the question of what parents can actually rely on.”
Donna Werlatik, the Director of Student Engagement and Founder/Advisor of Prism at Virginia Tech
If you’re interested in reading the full write-up from Virginia Tech, click here.