Meta and YouTube have each faced legal setbacks that could portend badly for the social media industry as a whole. The first saw Meta lose $381 million lawsuit over child exploitation and safety, the second saw YouTube and Google lose $3 million each for not preventing child addiction. Both cases are expected to set off copycat cases, including against other social media platforms.
Meta, YouTube face thousands of cases on whether they harmed children after bellwether cases go against them Fortune
from news.google.com
Two landmark jury verdicts against social media companies have arrived at the front of a wave of lawsuits alleging that the popular platforms endanger the mental health of children.
Financial penalties total $381 million in the two cases involving tech giant Meta in New Mexico and both Meta and YouTube in California. The verdicts highlight a growing shift in the public perception of social media companies and their responsibilities toward child safety.
But it may be too soon to tell whether litigation will change the way popular social media and messaging platforms function — or influence the complex algorithms that deliver content to billions of users worldwide.