Is this Social Media's Big Tobacco Moment? How Addiction Rulings Can Inform Tech Policy
This March, Meta and Google were found liable in two landmark rulings for failing to safeguard children from sexual exploitation and for misleading the public about alleged harms from use of apps like Instagram and Facebook.
Cases brought by the Attorney General of New Mexico and a private plaintiff in California found Meta intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the mental health of platform users and deceived users regarding its safety.
New Mexico's Attorney General is now seeking to declare Meta a public nuisance in the state arguing for injunctive relief and worth $3.7 billion in abatement funding. Meanwhile, the next private plaintiff will move to trial in California, with cases raising claims against Snap, TikTok, Google, and Meta.
These cases can shed important light on internal practices of social media companies. Evidence revealed during the trial reveals important details about platform design decisions and can inform the design of policy as lawmakers seek to regulate social media companies and mitigate online harms.
Join GoodBot for episode #2 of Design for Integrity where we talk with Peter Chapman (Knight Georgetown Institute) and Maddy Batt (Tech Justice Law) for a conversation on the significance of these rulings, how researchers are imagining remedy frameworks in response to these rulings, what the implications are for other cases on the horizon and how these cases can inform public policy.
Design for Integrity is made possible through support from the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion, a global coalition of nonprofits seeking to ask "What if technology fostered trust and collaboration instead of driving polarization and violence?"
Join us on May 27!
About Peter
Peter Chapman is the Associate Director with the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI), a center at Georgetown University that connects independent research with technology policy and design. Peter works across KGI’s areas of focus, including platform governance and design. Peter is an attorney with extensive experience working on issues of responsible technology, human rights, and governance with civil society organizations, the private sector, multilateral institutions, and academia.
Maddy Batt (she/her) is the Legal Fellow at Tech Justice Law, where she works to address human rights abuses linked to Big Tech through litigation and advocacy. She authors a monthly column analyzing developments in tech litigation for Tech Policy Press. Prior to TJL, Maddy spent 6 years at the intersection of law and organizing working on issues including immigrant rights, economic justice, and the rights of incarcerated people. She is committed to resisting the use of technology to surveil and disempower marginalized communities and their movements.