Episode Details

Two monumental cases were brought against social media companies including Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat. TikTok and Snapchat were only involved in the Los Angeles case; they decided to settle out of court before that trial began. The trial in New Mexico accused Meta of tailoring its platforms to prioritize user engagement, promoting and profiting from illegal content that allowed for the exploitation of children and teens. The Trial in Los Angles, CA alleged that Instagram (Meta) and YouTube (Google) have intentionally designed their platforms to addict and harm minors. These trials are important because they are attacking these social media companies from different angles. Instead of going after free speech or content, they are going after child protections and system designs. After much testimony in both trials from Mark Zuckerburg, medical experts, technical experts, internal documents, emails, and message chains, both juries found the defendants guilty. The New Mexico trial ended with the jury ruling that Meta had violated the states consumer protection law and imposing a $375 million dollar fine. The Los Angeles trial ended with the jury finding Meta and Google liable for $6 million in damages. While the New Mexico trial had the larger punitive damages, the Los Angeles trial will probably prove far more significant over time. After these trials, there is now a ‘flood’ of litigation lining up against the social media giants. This could prove to be the beginning of significant changes in social media. This episode examined multiple articles from The Epoch Times, The Wall Street Journal, and CNBC.

 
P.S. Please check out the documentary on Netflix called The Social Dilemma (released in 2020).