Social media companies are facing thousands of lawsuits in the US that could fundamentally alter how platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, Discord and Roblox function. The avalanche of legal action, much of it concentrated in California where the major platforms are headquartered, centres on claims that they have harmed users – particularly children.
"It's created a stage that not only legal observers are watching, but regulators and lawmakers are watching closely as well," said Eric Talley, a lawyer and professor at Columbia Law School. Talley added that the growing wave of lawsuits is feeding into public perception, likely to influence political elections and drive new laws for years to come.
“Social media firms face thousands of US lawsuits that could fundamentally change how platforms operate, legal experts warn.”
Alexis Shore Ingber, a communications law expert and professor at Syracuse University, said: "There's no denying anymore that there is an issue with child safety on the platforms. We are seeing an inflection point. These cases are significant."
Already this year, Meta and YouTube suffered an unprecedented loss when a jury ordered them to pay a combined $6m (£4.5m) to a young woman who claimed she was addicted as a child to social media, contributing to her mental and emotional health struggles. Both companies said they disagreed with the verdict and intend to appeal.
Meta also lost a larger case in New Mexico, brought by that state's attorney general, which accused the company of misleading the public that its platforms were safe for children despite known issues of sexual exploitation. Meta has said it plans to appeal against that verdict as well.
In the years these cases were brought and resolved, Meta has released changes to its platforms aimed at making them safer for young users. But broader change – to how platforms are designed, function and are accessed – is likely to take years more and further court rulings against them, the BBC reports. Between this year and next, Meta and other major social platforms are poised to fight through more trials where juries could consider a host of claims by young users, their parents and school districts.
The concentration of cases in California, known as the "California effect", means legal and policy changes enacted there often ripple nationwide. Taken together, whether the lawsuits settle out of court or end with jury verdicts against companies, the outcome could reshape social media forever.