On March 25, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had acted negligently in designing social media platforms that harmed young people, awarding them $6 million in damages and interests in a lawsuit that is seen as paving the way for similar cases.
According to the court decision, Meta must pay $4.2 million in damages and interests, while Google must pay $1.8 million.
Although the amount may not be significant compared to the scale of the two technology giants, this lawsuit is considered a typical case among thousands of similar lawsuits being consolidated in California state courts.
The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified in court documents as Kaley, claims to have been “hooked” on platforms such as YouTube (Google) and Instagram (Meta) since childhood, due to their appealing design, including the unlimited scrolling feature that constantly exposes users to new content.
The jury concluded that both companies not only designed the products harmfully, but also failed to provide adequate warnings about these risks.
The plaintiffs’ legal representatives argued that this decision reflects the increased responsibility of the technology sector regarding the impact of its products. Meta and Google, on the other hand, contested the court’s conclusion and announced their intention to appeal.
This lawsuit comes amid growing criticism of major American technology companies regarding the safety of children and adolescents. While American legislation still strongly protects social networks from any liability for user-generated content, this legal action focuses on the platform design itself – a different legal approach.
Experts believe that this decision could prompt companies to strengthen their consumer protection measures, even though the legal process is likely to be prolonged through multiple levels of jurisdiction.
At the same time, the U.S. Congress has not yet passed comprehensive legislation to regulate social media, although many states have enacted regulations regarding their use by children, including age verification requirements and restrictions on the use of cell phones in schools.
Several other lawsuits related to allegations of social media addiction are expected to take place soon, including those targeting platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cac-ong-lon-cong-nghe-doi-mat-cao-buoc-khien-gioi-tre-nghien-mang-xa-hoi-post1101174.vnp
