By Diana Novak Jones
March 26 (Reuters) – Jurors in the first two trials in the U.S. from a growing wave of lawsuits targeting social media firms over harm to children have found Meta and Alphabet’s Google liable, potentially teeing up an appeals fight that could reshape how U.S. law shields tech companies from lawsuits.
In California, a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and Google liable for a young woman’s depression and suicidal thoughts after she said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube at a young age, ordering them to pay a combined $6 million in damages. In a separate New Mexico case, jurors on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled users about the safety of its products for young users and enabled the sexual exploitation of children on its platforms.
The verdicts pierce a legal shield that plaintiffs suing tech companies have long struggled to overcome: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 federal law that generally protects online platforms from liability over user-generated content. In both cases, the plaintiffs sidestepped that hurdle by arguing the companies harmed young users through decisions they made about the platforms’ design rather than the content itself.
“Courts are increasingly trying to distinguish claims about platform functionality or platform conduct from claims that would really just impose liability for third-party speech,” said Gregory Dickinson, an assistant professor at University of Nebraska College of Law who studies the intersection of tech and the law.
Meta and Google have denied the claims, arguing they have taken actions to protect young people.
META, GOOGLE CLAIMED LIABILITY SHIELD
In both cases, Meta urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, as did Google in the Los Angeles case, claiming they were shielded from liability by Section 230. The judges rejected the argument, saying the cases could move to trial.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment beyond noting that Meta plans to appeal in both cases. Google has said it plans to appeal in the Los Angeles case, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Those appeals are almost certain to center on Section 230 – and they could have broad implications.
Meta, Google, Snapchat parent Snap Inc, and TikTok parent ByteDance are facing thousands of lawsuits in both state and federal court over claims their design choices have led to a mental health crisis for teens and young people. More than 2,400 cases have been centralized before a single judge in California federal court, while thousands of cases are consolidated in California state court.
