There are several major social media cases facing the US Supreme Court this term, all having to do with the First Amendment. The decisions the court issues will effectively create a new legal regime where none existed before. The first major issue, on the constitutionality of public officials blocking other users, shows how hard this is going to be for justices who have not yet fully understood how the architecture of social media platforms can change society.
Kids Suing Social Media Over Addiction Find a Win Amid Losses
15.10.2023 - 03:49 / tech.hindustantimes.com
Minors and parents suing Meta Inc.'s Facebook and other technology giants for the kids' social media platform addictions won an important ruling advancing their collection of lawsuits in a California court.
A state judge on Friday threw out most of the claims but said she'll allow the lawsuits to advance based on a claim that the companies were negligent – or knew that the design of their platforms would maximize minors' use and prove harmful. The plaintiffs argue Social Media is designed to be addictive, causing depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, and suicide.
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More than 200 such suits filed across the country have been assigned to two judges in California — one in state court in Los Angeles and the other in federal court in Oakland. Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl's ruling applies only to the cases in state court. Her decision is part of a larger battle in which statewide social media bans pit concerns about privacy and national security against personal freedoms and the use of wildly popular apps – especially among young users.
In the California case, lawyers representing minors cleared a legal hurdle that allows them to pursue a claim that Facebook, Instagram, Snap Inc., TikTok Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube knew that the physical harms of social media were “foreseeable and substantial,” Kuhl wrote her the ruling. The judge pointed to the “obvious inequality” between “unsophisticated minors” and the internet companies “who exercised total control over how their platforms functioned.”
Internet companies have long relied on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal statute that has consistently shielded them from liability over comments, ads, pictures and videos on their platforms. Importantly, Kuhl ruled that laws protecting free speech and Section 230 don't stop the negligence claim in the collection of California cases from going forward.
Kuhl ruled the social media companies could be held liable for the allegations because they are “based on the fact that the design features of the platforms — and not the specific content viewed by plaintiffs — caused plaintiffs' harms.”
“This decision is an important step forward for the thousands of families we represent whose children have been permanently afflicted with debilitating mental health issues thanks to these social media giants,” lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a statement. “We are determined to use every legal tool at our disposal to hold these companies accountable for their actions and reach a just resolution.”
Google defended its practices in a statement Friday.
“Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work,” José Castañeda, aGoogle spokesperson, said. “In
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