Platform Liability

US court rules Instagram and YouTube deliberately harm children

A US jury has found Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube are deliberately designed to be addictive and ruled the two companies were negligent in their duty to safeguard children who use the two social media platforms.

Online platforms are protected from liability in the US for harmful content posted by users. This week’s ruling related to a case not about user-generated content, but instead about features of the two platforms the claimant argued are designed to be attention-grabbing, such as the “infinite scroll” that ​keep users looking at new posts.

The decision may have profound global implications not only for the two tech giants, but for all other social media platforms.

It is understood the two companies intend to appeal the ruling.

Photo credits: Tima Miroshnichenko

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A US jury has found Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube are deliberately designed to be addictive and ruled the two companies were negligent in their duty to safeguard children who use the two social media platforms.

Online platforms are protected from liability in the US for harmful content posted by users. This week’s ruling related to a case not about user-generated content, but instead about features of the two platforms the claimant argued are designed to be attention-grabbing, such as the “infinite scroll” that ​keep users looking at new posts.

The decision may have profound global implications not only for the two tech giants, but for all other social media platforms.

It is understood the two companies intend to appeal the ruling.

Photo credits: Tima Miroshnichenko