Social media companies to face negligence claims in multidistrict litigation

Social media negligence multidistrict litigation overview: 

• Who: A California federal judge ruled Meta, Google, ByteDance and Snapchat have to face negligence claims in a multidistrict litigation of claims the social media companies purposely harmed their young users. 
• Why: The judge ruled that certain features of the platforms — such as an image filter — could be treated as a product, allowing the negligence claims to continue. 
• Where: The multidistrict litigation is being held in California federal court. 

A California federal judge ruled Tuesday that Meta and other social media companies must face negligence claims as part of a multidistrict litigation focused on whether they purposely addicted and harmed their young users.

The social media companies who are part of the multidistrict litigation include Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Google’s YouTube, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Snapchat, according to the judge’s order. 

The judge, while choosing to dismiss other claims, determined that certain features of the social media platforms — such as an image filter — could be treated as products, thereby keeping the door open for the negligence claims. 

The judge also disagreed with an argument by the social media companies that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and the First Amendment shielded them from claims content pushed by their algorithms caused mental health issues in child users. 

“By way of summary, the Court finds that the parties’ ‘all or nothing’ approach to the motions to dismiss does not sufficiently address the complexity of the issues facing this litigation,” the judge wrote. 

Social media companies conceded difference between filters and content, judge says

Filters that are built into the social media platforms was a focal point of the order, with the judge ruling the company’s reference to the filters as “tools” was a concession of a distinction between a feature that enables a user to alter content and the content itself. 

The judge also ultimately determined that filters in the social media platforms are not entitled to protection under the First Amendment on account of them being “neutral, non-expressive tools” provided by the social media companies. 

The multidistrict litigation encompasses more than 140 complaints brought on behalf of school districts in addition to actions filed jointly by attorneys general from more than 30 states. 

The ruling, meanwhile, comes several weeks after a hearing was held for a motion to dismiss that was filed by Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat, reports Law360. 

In other news involving children and social media, state and federal government officials have recently been working to come up with ways to protect children from dangers associated with both online activity and artificial intelligence. 

Has your child been harmed by a social media platform? Let us know in the comments! 

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