The first of several trials that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harm caused to children has gotten underway in California. The case accuses corporate giants Meta and YouTube of intentionally engineering their products to make children become addicted.

Virginia Tech social media expert Megan Duncan and political communications expert Cayce Myers discussed the possible impacts of the case and the wider implications for consumers and public policy.

Megan Duncan on what the trial could reveal about social media design and use

“This complex case is about whether company representatives created design features and functions that harmed those teens; and if the company did, to what extent did it create those features and functions with the knowledge that they would cause harm,” Duncan said.

“If this trial continues, it gives the public an opportunity to hear more about the ‘black box’ that determines what content social media users are served. For the most part, social media algorithms and the data that informs design decisions are proprietary information that companies keep private,” she said.

“We can put these lawsuits into the larger context of increased attention by society and governments on the effects of social media on the lives of teens, including a relatively new Virginia law that requires social media companies to limit teens to an hour of social media per day,” Duncan said.

“Right now, social media companies cannot be held liable for the content of what the teens engaged with on social media created by third parties because of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a decades-old law enacted before modern social media existed,” she said.

Cayce Myers on the ramifications for consumer experience and AI development

“These cases symbolize a shift in legal and social expectations of social media, and raise some larger novel questions about accountability, immunity, and personal choice,” Myers said. 

“In the past, social media has largely been immunized by federal protections such as the Communications Decency Act section 230. However, these cases present a unique argument around algorithmic design and user experience, and the negative net effects of social media as deliberately designed,” he said.

“These cases have implications beyond social media into the realm of user experience writ large, such as with AI, because it argues that tech companies may have the responsibility to considering the net mental health impacts of design interfaces, algorithms, and content management. There has been an increased societal discussion around the negative impact of social media on children with some countries, notably Australia, banning social media for users who are under the age of 16,” he said.

“The larger discussion within this lawsuit is about who is responsible for the net effects of use.  Social media companies are arguing that the user is ultimately responsible for their interactions within social media, while plaintiffs argue that the underlying design creates addiction. The question is likely not going to be definitively resolved within a single lawsuit and may end up taking years to find an answer because of the appeals. Meanwhile, the impact of these lawsuits could be as large as the litigation in the 1990s with big tobacco as the sheer number of plaintiffs could proliferate depending upon the outcome of this case,” Myers said.

About Duncan  
Megan Duncan is an associate professor in the School of Communication. Her research focuses on how partisans judge the credibility of and engage with the news. Using survey-embedded experiments, surveys, and other quantitative methods, she’s interested in knowing more about audiences, their perceptions of the news, how they form opinions, and how to use this knowledge to make democracy stronger. Read more about her here.

About Myers  
Cayce Myers is the director of graduate studies at the School of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. He specializes in media history, political communication, and laws that affect public relations practice. Read more about him here.  

Schedule an interview  
To schedule an interview, contact Mike Allen in the media relations office at mike.allen@vt.edu or 540-400-1700.

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