When social media began its takeover of the internet 20 years ago, it was hailed as a technology that would connect people and democratise information. Now, companies like Meta, Google, Snapchat, TikTok, Discord and Roblox face thousands of lawsuits in the United States, all centred on the claim that they have harmed users – children in particular. The outcome of these cases, legal experts say, could change how social platforms operate forever.
“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 noted that the growing wave of litigation is feeding into public perception and is likely to influence elections and new legislation for years to come.
“Social media giants face thousands of US lawsuits over child safety; key cases could reshape the industry.”
Most of the cases are being heard in California, home to all the major social platforms. Known as the “California effect”, legal changes in that state tend to ripple across the country. “There’s no denying anymore that there is an issue with child safety on the platforms,” said Alexis Shore Ingber, a communications law expert and professor at Syracuse University. “We are seeing an inflection point. These cases are significant.”
Among the most closely watched: a case brought by a young woman who claimed she was addicted as a child to social media, contributing to her mental and emotional health struggles. Earlier this year, a jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay her a combined $6m (£4.5m) in damages – an unprecedented loss for both companies, which said they disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal.
Meta also lost a larger case in New Mexico, where the state’s attorney general accused the company of misleading the public about the safety of its platforms for children, despite known issues of sexual exploitation. Meta has said it will appeal against that verdict as well.
While Meta has rolled out changes aimed at making its platforms safer for young users, broader transformation of how platforms are designed, function and are accessed is likely to take years – and more court rulings against them. Between this year and next, Meta and other major social platforms are poised to fight their way through more trials, where juries could consider a host of claims by young users, their parents and school districts.