MONDAY: Fireside Chat: Big Tech’s Era of Invincibility Is Over
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a landmark verdict in the first social media addiction trial, The Tech Oversight Project will host a virtual fireside chat with leaders in the online safety movement to discuss the K.G.M. trial and reflect on its implications for Congressional action, future bellwethers, and upcoming federal cases. The event will be held on record and include Q&A with reporters at the conclusion of the discussion. Footage will be distributed to interested parties after the event. Please RSVP to socialmediatrials@techoversight.org.
WHEN: Monday, March 30th at 12:00 PM ET
WHERE: Zoom. Please RSVP to socialmediatrials@techoversight.org for the meeting link.
WHO: Participants include:
- Sacha Haworth, The Tech Oversight Project
- Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation
- Matthew Bergman, Social Media Victims Law Center
- Julianna Arnold, Parents Rise
- Zamaan Qureshi, Design It For Us
BACKGROUND:
More than 2,000 plaintiffs are alleging social media companies like Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and Alphabet knowingly designed addictive products that expose children to predators, exploitation, and self-harm. The trials are considered the most significant Big Tech accountability litigation to date, drawing parallels to precedent-setting products liability cases against Big Tobacco.
The evidence now in the public record shows how companies knowingly engineered products with design features such as infinite scroll, push notifications, and algorithmic amplification. For Big Tech companies, youth engagement is a financial imperative. Social media platforms generate billions in annual ad revenue from U.S. youth. According to new Pew Research Center survey data, 36% of U.S. teens say they use TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and/or Facebook "almost constantly."
The first case involved plaintiff K.G.M., who experienced dangerous mental health harms after becoming addicted to social media platforms run by defendants Meta and YouTube. Her case against TikTok and Snap was settled before the trial began.
The trials have already produced an unprecedented public record of damning internal company documents.
For example, Meta internal documents showed executives explicitly targeted teenagers, with one stating that “the lifetime value of a 13-year-old teen is roughly $270 per teen” and another describing how “engaging the vast majority of teens in a school … is crucial.” A Meta internal study found that “teens can’t switch off from Instagram even if they want to,” and an internal chat message in which Meta employees described the platform as “a drug.”
In addition to internal documents, experts and whistleblowers testified during the trial that social media platforms were not designed to be safe, that companies did not provide effective warnings to teens and parents, and that parental controls offered by the platforms are ineffective.
Throughout the first trial, survivor parents, youth leaders, and other online safety advocates attended the trial and held actions in solidarity with plaintiffs and families in the trial, calling for commonsense federal and state legislative solutions that provide meaningful platform changes, clear industry-wide safety standards, and strong design-focused protections.
The next trial in the California state litigation (JCCP) is expected to begin in July.