Social Media Negligence

Author: Neil O'Donnell and Connor Graham

A California jury recently issued a 7-figure verdict against social media giants that were accused of negligently designing their apps to be addictive to adolescents and children.¹

In terms of profits and audience capture, social media has been an economic success. A 2024 Pew Research article found that one-third of teen use these sites “constantly.”² That same report noted nearly all teens, 96% in fact, use the internet daily. YouTube, owned by Google, is reportedly used by 90% of US teens ages 13 to 17, making it the most popular site. Meta’s offerings have a strong hold on the market. 61% of the aforementioned teens use Instagram; 51% Snapchat; 32% Facebook; 23% WhatsApp; and 6% Threads.

Social media companies receive frequent criticism for the potentially addictive nature their technology possesses, especially when it comes to children. Many fear that the algorithms behind these products (ie., how the sites determine what videos to suggest to users) are addictive to children, which are detrimental to their mental health and development. About 81% of US adults favor parental consent for minors to use social media (only 45% of teens are in favor of such measures).³ Similarly, around 70% of adults support age verification and time limits for minors using social media sites.

Social media giants have avoided potential liability through legislation such as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Such legislation protects companies from the content posted on their sites. In essence, the host company is unlikely to be found liable for objectionable content on their platforms posted by anonymous users.

The recent case out of California cleared this hurdle by focusing on design rather than content. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the companies negligently designed the apps and failed to effectively warn about the dangers of their products. This argument was a winner for the jury, which awarded $3 million to the Plaintiff in compensatory damages, and issued $3 million in punitive damages. Meta and Google were found 70% and 30% responsible for Plaintiff’s injuries, respectively.

The case is an important bellwether as thousands of similar lawsuits across the country are being brought against social media companies. While $6 million is effectively nothing to these companies, the magnitude of litigation by victims alleging serious harm is certainly compelling.