Social media has created an unregulated public health crisis. For a long time, social platforms have remained unchecked, mostly due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a controversial law which insulates online service providers from actions based on third party content. The general consensus was that suing these companies would “break the internet.” Recently, however, as empirical evidence piles up showing the negative effects of the platform, this dogma is coming under fire. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have come together to sue Meta, and a large-scale MDL has made it past a motion to dismiss in the Northern District of California. This essay argues that traditional product liability law is the most viable framework for holding social media platforms accountable. Looking at function over form, Meta manufactures a product, which it meticulously designs and markets to consumers. Further, the essay argues that focusing on the platform’s use of A/B testing to tweak their addictive design will be imperative to the upcoming litigation. A/B tests can be used to demonstrate a platform’s knowledge of the harmful effects of its design choices. Further, internal results of A/B tests could provide proof of causation. Building on this knowledge, the article provides a roadmap for litigating future claims against social media companies.
LawReview
