Los Angeles, United States. Jurors in the first two U.S. trials in a wave of lawsuits over alleged harm to children from social media have found Meta and Alphabet’s Google liable, potentially setting up appeals that could affect how Section 230 shields tech companies.
California and New Mexico verdicts
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.
Section 230 legal shield and trial arguments
The verdicts challenge 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, plaintiffs argued the companies harmed young users through decisions about platform design rather than content.
“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.
Company responses and plans to appeal
Meta and Google have denied the claims, saying they have taken actions to protect young people. In both cases, Meta urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, as did Google in the Los Angeles case, arguing they were shielded by Section 230, but judges rejected those arguments and allowed the cases to proceed 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.
Broader litigation and potential implications
Meta, Google, Snapchat parent Snap Inc, and TikTok parent ByteDance are facing thousands of lawsuits in state and federal court over claims that design choices have contributed 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.
Legal experts said courts have been moving toward a narrower view of Section 230’s liability shield. Several lower courts have ruled that platform design choices are not protected by the law, but no appellate court has weighed in, and appellate rulings bind other courts.
How do you think appeals centered on Section 230 could affect future lawsuits against social media companies?
