Social media verdicts spur new momentum for kids online safety push

Social media verdicts spur new momentum for kids online safety push

Back-to-back verdicts against Meta and Google’s YouTube sent a warning shot to Big Tech this week, marking the first time juries found the social media platforms liable for their impact on kids and teens online. 

© Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

As Congress remains at a stalemate over how to regulate platforms and protect children online, legal and technology experts say the jury verdicts could offer new momentum for kids’ online safety and related litigation across the country.  “This verdict should be a wake-up call to social media platforms that the status quo is no longer sufficient, and steps need to be taken to make sure children and teens are protected online, including on social media platforms,” Allison Fitzpatrick, partner at Davis+Gilbert advertising and marketing law firm, said Wednesday.  The jury verdicts in California and New Mexico come after a years-long push from youth safety groups and parents, which have separately lobbied on Capitol Hill to pass legislation holding technology companies accountable for the dangers they believe their platforms pose to kids.

The verdicts do not require Meta or Google to immediately change their platforms’ design or operations, but advocates hope they will push social media companies to rethink the platforms’ more addictive qualities that keep children on screens for hours.  “This is not about that content, but really about the way that these platforms are using these addictive design features to engage kids and teens for longer on the platform,” Holly Leck, senior manager at the kids safety nonprofit Common Sense Media, told The Hill Thursday

Tech firms have typically avoided liability due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which largely protects them from being held legally responsible for third party or user content.

This 1996 provision was written ahead of the creation of most social media, and tech watchdog groups that argue it should be updated to reflect the new online ecosystem. The verdicts are some of the first to get past this shield, with experts predicting a “watershed moment” for similar claims.

Read more in a full report this weekend at The Hill.com

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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