Instagram & Co. harmful to children? Wave of lawsuits begins in the USA
Until now, social networks have mostly been able to reject legal attacks on their functionality by referring to US immunity. This could now change.
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In the USA, two court proceedings have begun concerning the accusation that social networks are explicitly designed to make children and adolescents addicted, thereby causing health damage. These proceedings are the first in a veritable wave that could endanger a central foundation of Meta & Co.'s business model and are therefore being followed with great attention. In California, on Monday, the case of a young woman was heard who accuses the Facebook group and YouTube of intentionally making their products addictive, Reuters summarizes. At the same time, in New Mexico, the accusation was that profits were more important than the safety of young people on Facebook and Instagram, AP writes.
Because social network providers are assured immunity for third-party content by US federal law, the proceedings are not about that, but about the design of the social networks themselves. For weeks, it has been pointed out that the wave of lawsuits poses a serious threat to Meta & Co. because they cannot invoke so-called Section 230. In Los Angeles, the responsible judge explicitly acknowledged that sufficient evidence has been presented that the alleged harm occurred due to the design of the platforms, not due to third-party content. At the start of the proceedings, she reminded the jury once again that they may only rule on the design and functionality of the apps, writes Reuters.
Serious danger for Meta & Co.
While the case in California was initiated by a young woman who sees herself as a victim of the apps, the case in New Mexico stems from accusations by the federal state. There too, the accusations were formulated in such a way that recourse to Section 230 was not sufficient to defend against them. According to Associated Press, a team from the state's Attorney General posed as children on social networks and subsequently documented sexual inquiries and the operator Meta's reaction. Just as in California, high-profile witness testimonies are expected here; for Meta, a lot is at stake. At the opening, the company already accused the prosecution of manipulating evidence, writes the news agency.
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The two proceedings are just the prelude to a wave of negotiations that pose a serious threat to the business model of Facebook & Co. In California alone, thousands of lawsuits have been filed, many of which have already been consolidated. These regularly target not only Meta but also Alphabet/Google/YouTube, Bytedance/TikTok, and Snapchat operator Snap. In the case of Los Angeles, the latter two have settled out of court with the plaintiff in advance and can now observe the course of the proceedings. They will likely also be able to observe what Mark Zuckerberg has to say, as the Meta CEO is expected in the witness stand in Los Angeles, according to Reuters.
(mho)
