META could be forced to redesign Instagram after an “avalanche” of lawsuits that claim the app is designed to be addictive for kids and teens.
It comes as major social media companies Meta and YouTube were found liable of not warning users about the dangers associated with the apps yesterday, in a landmark case for the industry.
Meta owns Instagram and Facebook – and has already faced several suits claiming its products harmed users.
Yesterday’s ruling found in favour of a 20-year-old woman who claimed social media apps caused her to develop body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Experts have warned the California case, which saw Meta and YouTube ordered to pay $3million in compensatory damages alone, is just a drop in the ocean compared to the legal reckoning social media giants could face with new claims against them.
More than 10,000 individual claimants and 800 school districts have launched suits arguing that social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube are designed to keep young people trapped on their phones.
George Washington University Law Professor John Banzhaf compared the wave of legal challenges to the cases faced by the tobacco industry in the past.
He thinks the social media giant will appeal to the US government for immunity to protect it from the string of suits.
But Banzhaf argues this “vast avalanche” of lawsuits could dwarf those faced by big tobacco, because more people may be able to sue.
The public law expert told The Times: “There’s almost certainly going to be a vast avalanche of lawsuits.
“In the tobacco cases you only had a limited number of potential plaintiffs.
“How many people have lung cancer, for example … compared with the huge number of people who are on social media and presumably suffered, or will at least claim to have suffered, some kind of mental or emotional problem.”
He compared lawyers swarming to attack Meta to sharks “smelling blood”, adding: “Well, we get a lot of sharks and a lot of blood in the water”.
After the LA jury found YouTube and Meta liable for the depression and anxiety of a woman who used their platforms compulsively as a child, some experts think platforms like Instagram could be forced into complete redesigns.
The trial had considered if features like Instagram’s “infinite scroll” and YouTube’s “autoplay” made the social media sites more addictive.
Harvard Law Professor Glenn Cohen said: “While redesigning the product going forward will have no effect on the existing cases … I do think that we’re going to be in a position where Meta is going to have to take a closer look at this.
“I think the key question for them is whether the potential redesigns that might avoid this liability in the future are possible.”
PM Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “very keen” for the government to tackle social media’s addictive features.
He told reporters: “The status quo isn’t good enough. We need to do more to protect children.
“That’s why we’re consulting about issues such as banning social media for under-16s.
“I’m very keen that we do more on addictive features within social media.”
The government is considering a blanket ban on social media for under-16-year-olds, after Australia implemented a similar policy.
A Meta spokesperson said that “teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app”.
Google said the verdict in the California trial misunderstood YouTube, calling the site “a responsibly-built streaming platform, not a social media site”.
