About this episode

The episode discusses a historic lawsuit against Meta and Google regarding mental health harms caused by social media platforms, featuring guest Matthew Bergman.

OA1258 - The Social Media Victims Law Center just made history in a Los Angeles courtroom by holding Meta and Google accountable for mental health harms which they successfully argued to a jury knowingly caused harm to children. In a novel legal theory, these plaintiffs argued that they were harmed not through a lack of content moderation or other editorial choices which might otherwise be protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but by the fundamental design of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. SMVLC founder Matthew Bergman joins to share how his decades of litigating on behalf of people harmed by asbestos brought him to this groundbreaking lawsuit and what it might mean for the thousands of other actions the SMVLC has brought around the US, as well as the upcoming claims which will be litigated by state AGs later this year. Where do the immunities guaranteed by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act end and the harmful and potentially addicting features which social media platforms have knowingly baked into the design of their platforms begin? Is “social media addiction” a demonstrable mental health issue or just a way to…

People in this episode

Guest: Matthew Bergman

Topics covered

• social media
• mental health
• legal accountability
• addiction
• children's safety
• Section 230
• civil litigation

Keywords

• social media addiction
• mental health harms
• legal theory
• Section 230
• children
• litigation
• privacy
• civil liberties

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Social Media Victims Law Center, Meta, Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube

Places: Los Angeles

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