Closing arguments were made yesterday in the landmark social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube. The future of the attention economy now rests with twelve people in Los Angeles.
This trial (a bellwether case for the industry) argues that social media platforms made deliberate design choices to addict users. The goal was to juice engagement metrics at the expense of user mental health, specifically affecting children. The plaintiff argues that features such as infinite scroll, video autoplay, and “like” buttons are not neutral tools but rather deliberate engineering choices designed to keep children and teens hooked for profit.
The legal strategy here is notable. This is the first major case to target the giants using a product liability framework. Previous attempts usually failed by focusing on user generated content (which is famously protected by Section 230. By arguing that the software design itself is a defective product, the plaintiffs are attempting to bypass the standard immunity shields that tech companies have hidden behind for decades.
If the jury finds these platforms liable, the ramifications will be significant. Companies might be forced to dismantle the very features that define their user experience. This could trigger a forced rebuild of the modern web.
It raises an uncomfortable question for investors. Can these platforms maintain their growth trajectories if they are forbidden from using psychological tricks to retain users? If organic growth becomes difficult (and the barriers to competition are lowered) we might finally see these behemoths begin to founder.
Ultimately, regardless of what the jury decides in this specific case, the landscape has already shifted. As plaintiffs’ attorneys have pointed out, forcing these tech behemoths to answer to a jury for their algorithmic design choices is a victory in itself. This trial has established the proposition that a platform’s design decisions are product decisions that carry real obligations. Whether spurred by a financial penalty from this jury or the looming wave of global legislation, the era of “addictive by design” social media may be coming to a close, and tech giants will have no choice but to adapt.