Is Social Media Big Tobacco 2.0? Suits Over the Impact on Teens

May 8, 2024, 2:25 PM UTC

Hundreds of lawsuits claim social media platforms have caused a youth mental health crisis.

The cases against Meta Platforms Inc., Google LLC, BytDance Ltd., and Snap Inc., have a high hurdle: the tech industry’s liability shield, Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

The plaintiffs are taking a page out of the playbook that brought down Big Tobacco. They argue social media apps, like cigarettes, are products and the tech industry knew their product causes harm.

In this video, we look at the legal battle over social media’s impact on teens.

Video features:


To contact the senior producer on this story: Andrew Satter in Washington at asatter@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the executive producer responsible for this story: Josh Block at jblock [at] bloombergindustry.com

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