
Is this social media's tobacco moment?
From Unhedged by Financial Times & Pushkin Industries
March 31, 2026 · 20 min
About this episode
The episode discusses a recent court ruling against Meta and Google regarding the addictive nature of their social media products aimed at children.
A jury in a Los Angeles court has found Meta and Google liable for $6m in damages in a civil suit alleging their social media products are designed to be addictive to children. It could pave the way for thousands of similar suits. Today on the show, technology reporter Hannah Murphy joins Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin to discuss what the verdict means. Also, they go long cold brews and long a Netflix documentary about America's Next Top Model . Check out the FT News Briefing podcast on FT.com or on Acast , Apple Podcasts , Pocket Casts or Spotify . For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer . You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com . Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Hosts: Robert Armstrong, Katie Martin
Guest: Hannah Murphy
Topics covered
- social media
- addiction
- legal issues
- technology
- children's safety
Keywords
- Meta
- social media
- addiction
- lawsuit
- children
- Hannah Murphy
- Robert Armstrong
- Katie Martin
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Meta, Google, FT News Briefing, Unhedged
Books & works: America's Next Top Model
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