A federal lawsuit is taking a novel approach to challenging social media companies, arguing that such platforms are 'defective products' and that the companies that own and operate them should be held liable for the harms they cause to their users.
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The lawsuit, which is based in the Northern District of California, where many of the defendants operate, alleges that excessive use of these platforms, or “products,” are associated with depression, disordered eating and insomnia, and can lead to attempted or actual suicide or other forms of self-harm.
“The legal standard for product liability — if the court agrees that these social media platforms are products — is that these products are inherently dangerous,” said Jason Schultz, a clinical law professor at New York University. “Which means you’d have to really show that the use of these platforms is harmful not just for some users, but for most users.”
“It will be incumbent upon the plaintiffs to show that social media platforms are what’s addictive,” said Robert Kozinets, a communications professor at the University of Southern California, “not cellphones and the content on them.” A team of attorneys representing the plaintiffs is drafting a new consolidated complaint — one organized set of pleadings for future plaintiffs to sign onto, which is due on Feb. 14 — and have said that they expect more plaintiffs to join.
The recent lawsuits came after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents in 2021
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