US jury findings against Meta and Google sharpen challenge to key tech liability shield

Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google have been found liable by US juries in two separate trials over alleged harms to young social media users, a pair of verdicts that now set the stage for an appellate battle over the legal shield that has long protected internet platforms from many lawsuits.

In Los Angeles, a jury found that Meta and Google were liable for a young woman's severe depression and suicidal thoughts after she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child, awarding them almost $6 million in total damages. Although the case was focused on the elements of product design meant for keeping children engaged with the products, the jury framed those design choices as the cause of harm rather than the content produced by users.

In a separate case from New Mexico, a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million to users after they found that the company deceived users regarding the safety of its products for young people and facilitated the sexual exploitation of minors through its services. The jury determined that Meta violated New Mexico's state consumer protection laws by making false or misleading representations regarding how it protects minors on its platform.

Both rulings represent a significant milestone in the ongoing trend of US lawsuits alleging liability of social media companies for harm to children. The appeals will likely be expedited as lawyers will want to determine whether long-standing platform immunity from user-generated content can be overcome when evaluating the businesses’ design and operating practices.

The battleground will be Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which provides legal protection to operators of online platforms against being held accountable for the content published by users on those platforms. In both of these cases, the plaintiffs attempted to avoid the immunity of Section 230 by claiming that the alleged injury arose from the design and safety of the platform, rather than by any particular post or video.

The appellate court's ruling limiting the applicability of Section 230 may increase the exposure of large tech companies to more product liability, consumer protection, and negligence lawsuits. Meta and Google have already had several thousand similar lawsuits filed against them in the United States, and this ruling raises the possibility of each company experiencing higher legal expenses, the potential for settlements, and an increased likelihood of being pressured into changing demographics (younger users), as well as modifying their engagement strategies due to the increased litigation against them.