Below is my column in the New York Post on the California verdict against Google and Meta. Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” went from a motto to a jury verdict. The jury clearly believed that these companies were malicious and manipulative toward minors, but there remain considerable questions over the basis for the liability of social media companies.
Here is the column:
Google once had a motto: “Don’t be evil.”
In its reorganization in 2015, the motto was changed to “Do the right thing.”
According to a California jury this week, neither motto stuck.
In a historic verdict against both Google and Meta, a jury found that the companies maliciously designed their social media products to addict children, including the plaintiff, who was known only as Kaley or KGM.
The jury heard testimony of efforts to “target” young users and feed an addiction to social media and YouTube. The jury awarded Kaley $3 million in compensatory damages divided between Meta (70%) and Google (30%). It then awarded another $3 million in punitive damages.
Those damages are nothing to companies worth billions. However, the verdict was like a dinner gong for plaintiffs lawyers. There are already thousands of cases filed against social media companies. That wave is about to become a tsunami. That is particularly the case after companies like TikTok and Snap settled before trial.
In addition to this civil verdict, the New Mexico Attorney General secured a $375 million verdict the same week against Meta under the state’s consumer protection laws.
But it will be a very long time before these companies cut a check. The California case is rife with compelling appellate issues that will take years to work out.
Indeed, what makes this case so intriguing — and even more tempting for plaintiffs’ lawyers — is that it was actually not the strongest case.
The 17-year-old in California started using social media at age 6. Kaley had a troubled childhood with problems at home and bullying at school. She experienced depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia that could be linked to other aspects of her life. Her use of social media was extreme: all-consuming and all-day.
Meta argued that it does prohibit users under 13 from using any of its platforms. YouTube offers different platforms for children, like YouTube Kids.
However, Kaley created dozens of accounts to drive her “likes” and increase her virtual interactions.
The trial showed how complex such cases are in isolating what was the most substantial factor in Kaley’s harmful childhood. The case stretched the concepts of factual and legal causation to the breaking point.
I have taught torts for over 30 years and, in my view, the causation in this case is dubious. Even with tobacco, there was protracted litigation over other sources of cancer. However, that litigation was relatively straightforward in comparison to cases seeking to assign liability for depression, anxiety, or body dysmorphia. Children are bombarded with social and media imagery and messages from myriad sources. At the same time, many (like Kaley) come from homes with troubling or abusive elements.
The companies have previously asserted immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934. These lawyers found a creative way to evade that immunity by claiming they are challenging the design of “the product” of social media companies, not suing over the specific content that appears on their sites.
That may prove too clever by half for some judges. Product liability law has previously been used to circumvent constitutional or legal barriers, as in the unsuccessful product liability and nuisance cases against gun manufacturers. Section 230 is designed to protect internet companies that serve as platforms for third-party postings. Here, the lawyers are arguing that you have immunity for what is posted, but your system itself is a product that is subject to a lawsuit.
In finding negligence and a failure to warn, the jury clearly agreed with the complaint that the design of the sites was maliciously intended to create “a compulsion to engage with those products nonstop,” feeding “harmful and depressive content.” However, it is a difficult line between marketing and targeting.
It is not clear what warning these social media companies should offer beyond what they have previously posted. More importantly, it is unclear whether such warnings would have any impact on users.
If Meta warned that social media can be addictive or harmful, would it have deterred Kaley? Her mother already tried to block her from such usage.
There is no question that social media has a hold on children and adults because they like it. It allows them to create, observe, and communicate with an unprecedented range of people and sites. The question is whether this compulsive conduct reflects an intentional effort to addict minors or a product that is irresistible for many.
The only certainty after these verdicts is that there will be more of them. As soon as this verdict was read, the “likes” from plaintiffs’ lawyers flooded in across social media. Those trials will continue despite great uncertainty about the very foundation of any liability.
For now, it will be left to the courts, not these companies, “to do the right thing” on social media liability.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
I always understood marketing to be the art of making products irresistible, which is why I invested so much parenting time giving them the tools to resist. Stupid me, I should’ve saved my breath, waited for them to fall victim to their innate insatiability, and sued.
When a California jury looks at a six‑year‑old who has lived on Instagram and YouTube for years and decides the main wrongdoer is the platform, not the household that handed over the phone and never pulled the plug, it undercuts every future claim that “parents have rights” in their child’s formation. You cannot say, on Monday, that parents have the final word on schools, gender, and medical choices, then say, on Tuesday, that those same parents are basically spectators when their child spends all day inside an app. If they are treated as having waived responsibility here, on something as basic as time, attention, and habits, on what ground do they later insist that the state, the school, or the doctor must defer to them in harder cases? A parent who is relieved of duty when it is inconvenient will not be taken seriously when they suddenly want that duty respected.
OLLY,
I get what you are saying, but in this day and age, the parents have their faces in their own phones as much as the children do.
Sure, but…?
Again, you rewrote Turley’s article. And then farmer shows up to validate your nonsense.
Question, do you two actually know each other? Blogging buddies? Friends for life? Superficial wouldn’t you say?
Go hang around the local donut shop, make real friends.
So what’s you’re excuse Olly for being here 8 hours a day? Farmer, what about you?
Oh, forgot, you’re an adult with free will. But do you, are you really an adult addict?
Read you’ve been hanging out on the blog for 16 years (seen the comment). Does that translate into seniority? Turley award you privilege’s? The title Blog boss
16 years? And you think you’re sane?
Just asking for a friend, what does your wife etc. say to your addiction? Got kids? Do they know what you’ve been doing for the last 16 years?
Ohhhh!! Poor, poor annony!!! As I have mentioned in the past, I would gladly buy some here on the good professor’s blog a cup of coffee, or even lunch, like Estovir, OLLY, OldManFromKS, HullBobby, Lin, WiseOldLawyer, James, Young, just to name a few.
You? Not so much. 🙂
What is your excuse? You are here commenting hours before I even turn on my computer. I just checked, you are still on into the evening too.
If anyone is trying to be Blog Boss it is you, telling people what to do. Insisting the good professor write about what you want him to write. And then you go around flinging insults at everyone, all day long. What do your parents think about their Gen Z man-child who is a “failure to launch?”
Olly, hurrah!, I wholly concur with your view. Good point with the parental rights angle.
aw. isn’t that cute! X/George got his pants kicked in for the last several days and now decides to AGREE and even COMPLIMENT someone. Right? RIght? Right?
Pants kicked? Uh huh Sure. You seem jealous that others can have an actual discussion and a healthy debate. And you’re still stuck on forming petty insults and put downs.
X, don’t think I ever saw you accuse someone of being jealous UNTIL YOU were accused of that, and more than once, by several. Everytime you open your mouth through your postings, you just prove these things to be true. Hardly a “petty insult” (also something you have been accused on, by many, and many times) when all you have to do is go back and look at the replies to your postings, Pretty funny, RIGHT?
even his “huh” is a recent style copied from another poster.
Xs agreement with parental rights–> trans in childhood. 😂.
Thanks, X. If parental rights matter, so does parental responsibility in forming our kids.
Ooh good one, X.
More than one person can contribute . Negligent parents and psyops coexist . The award will be reduced by half if not thrown out.
Turley omitted mentioned the most troubling aspect of this proceeding. That was F’ckerberg sanctimoniously testifying that age limits are a good thing, but those should be enforced at the operating system level. Implementing that could easily mean the end of privacy and discretionary anonymity for the vast majority of internet users. And I’m certain that F’berg mouthed those platitudes with full knowledge that the idiot politicians now arguing for mandatory age verification by social media sites will embrace that idea like the freedom squelching squid they are.
Hinting darkly that “there’s something going on,” Donald J. Trump on Wednesday blamed the Republican defeat in his home district in Florida on election officials’ failure to count the fifteen thousand ballots he mailed in.
“I had Eric, Don Jr., JD, and Little Marco shove ballots into every mailbox in Washington,” he said. “The fact that we still didn’t win is proof that voting by mail doesn’t work.”
He complained that “now I’m going to have to spend valuable time calling up the Florida Secretary of State and telling him to find me more votes.”
“This should never be allowed to happen in this country,” he said. “I have more important things to do with my time, like insider trading.”
“As soon as this verdict was read, the “likes” from plaintiffs’ lawyers flooded in across social media.”
That is the modern sickness: Condemn the producers who create a product — as you enjoy the use of that product.
I am not a fan of Google or Meta. But people are responsible for their own choices – and parents are responsible for the choices they allow their children.
“…not a fan of Google or Meta”
I am at all not a fan, either. But no matter how much we despise one or both, we cannot afford to allow judgments against them that might seem to be condign punishment to provide pretext and precedent to our own loss of Liberty.
Not a fan? Irrelevant, you use their media unknowingly. More like slave eh?
Two parents convicted of murder after their son murdered people? Be serious…
The lottery isn’t as profitable as it used to be and states are looking for more ‘revenue’ so states suing Google is the new thing. (for you, really, you’ll benefit somehow, promise. Maybe we’ll tax you less)
I recall some of the early lotteries promoting “the money made will be for education” and when the laws passed to allow them, immediately cut the funding of education funding from general revenue substituting lottery money so net gain was zero.
It is NOT the states job to decide whether a child is actually male or female.
It is NOT the states job to parent children.
It is not the states job to control the social media use of children.
Parents are responsible for parenting children.
But when the parents fail in their responsibilities, then it is the states job to step in and take that responsibility, which is what is happening here.
Fail as in cause absolute real harm
Not fail to live up to the parenting standards of busybodies who should spend more time cleaning up their own messes
Long ago I read Weeping in the playtime of others
A fact based review of state childcare in the us
Short of parents who torture their kids the odds are removing a child will be worse then leaving it with bad parents
Even sexually abused children are less likely to be further abused in the custody of the abuser than the state
It is very rare for Both parents to be literally dangerous to their children
It is almost never a good course of action to remove a child from both parents
With very few exception bad parents are better than the state
It is important when you are talking about using force and government is always force to clearly define terms
What is “fail in their responsibilities” ?
Physically or sexually abuse a child ?
Fail to provide food and shelter ?
Situations where both parents fail in the above are incredibly rare
But it is very easy for those left and right to find parents falling short on some personal or ideological values
No parents are perfect
All but the worst of the worst are better than the state
Parental rights are not absolute
But they must be very nearly so
It is all to easy for others to decide you have failed to meet their standards for parenting
When I was a kid, I couldn’t stop watching cartoons, but we only had like 4 fuzzy VHF channels and I had to switch channels a lot to find more cartoons and my dad would yell at me I’m wearing out the tuner (they were big greased-up mechanical switches back then) and go outside and play. I am traumatized. My lawsuits will start with Magilla Gorilla, I just couldn’t get enough of that gorilla in the window.
I’m guessing here’s how it got started:
[Some sensible adult in position of authority]: “Well, I have bad news about your daughter, She has problems at home and bullying at school. She experienced depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia and all she does all day is lay in front of a screen and have virtual interactions.”
[Mother]: “Who’s fault is that??? Is there a company I can sue for big bucks? That will solve our whole families problems!”
IMHO, best analogy is to companies that market products that contain alcohol (beer, wine, spirits).
Many people unfortunately become alcoholics.
Are the companies responsible for making an addictive product?
Well, the majority of people who use these products do not become alcoholics.
Similar to social media products. Lots of people use them without becoming “addicted.”
A Diversity of diverse Addictive Incentives (AI).
In the closing argument to the Los Angeles jury, the attorney representing the young woman claiming Meta and Google got her addicted to social media, told the jury the following vital point:
“Now, ladies, gentlemen, . . . and others, . . . remember that your duty is to obey the Marxist agenda that we all follow in California. You must redistribute wealth from Meta and Google to those who do not have such wealth, like this poor young social-media-addicted woman–and even to me as a successful trial attorney, because we’re all not as successful as Meta and Google. It’s your civic duty, comrades. This principal supersedes everything, including whatever fatcs and laws that you may have heard during the course of this trial. So, when you go into the jury deliberation room, comrades, remember the redistribution of wealth principal necessary to make for a better world subject to our collective will. Thank you. And may Marxism bless you.”
“Us poor victims! Since controlling ourselves is out of the question, let’s seize the means of production!”
(the $ goes to blue state coffers, gets redistributed to the ones who are “victimy” enough)
Rest absolutely certain that the U.S. will take control of the Straits at any moment. Iran, evil incarnate, is no more. We will exert our military prowess over the criminals who ruined that beautiful land, the diabolical fools who have run this country will be dead, gone for good, and new leadership will bring prosperity and peace.
Hope they bring along McDonalds. Once they get a taste of McD’s they’re ours forever.
Conclusions: The present review suggests that early exposure to fluoride may have neurotoxic effects on neurodevelopment affecting behavioral, cognitive and psychosomatic symptoms related to ADHD diagnosis.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
WTF have you been smoking?
One factor of these social media trials is with the intentionality of creating addictive code. Zuckerberg simply can’t punch the “Make It Addictive” button, and it happens. It’s not that easy.
Those writing the code simply follow written instructions. If it is can be proven that platoons of marketing majors and psychologists have been hired as part of the design process, then there is a direct link to product sales and addiction – similar to fast food addiction. All the while, the mantra at the corporate level can be “Don’t be evil.” This conveniently confers plausible deniability. So,, the CEOs sleep well.
So, if parents like James and Jennifer Crumbley (the parents of Ethan Crumbley who committed the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan) and Colin Gray (the father who allegedly provided his son Colt Gray with the AR-15 style rifle used in the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia) can be held liable and imprisoned for failing to keep guns out of the hands of their teenage boys then why shouldn’t the parents of children allegedly harmed by social media be held liable for failing to keep social media devices out of the hands of their children? I’ve been writing for more than a decade that a contributing factor (if not the underlying cause of mass/school shootings is brain damaging, mind [gender?] altering FDA approved food poisoning (e.g., soy, TBHQ, MSG, minimally). See what can happen when government doesn’t get the basics right and lets profit oriented corporations run amuck? Charles G. Shaver
Interesting court cases, those two.
Now that the supreme court has ruled parents have absolute control of their children, if the little brats f-up, the parents are held liable.
We need to reeducate parents.
Anonymous, ultimately, because local governments and juries can send such mixed messages, we need SCOTUS to clearly define the roles and limits of constitutional government (e.g., as was originally clearly and concisely stated in the Preamble to the US Constitution) at all levels, big businesses and parents and children subject thereto. I don’t think you understood the part about “FDA approved food poisoning.” We now have two and a half generations of young to middle age adults who’ve been ingesting toxic brain damaging, mind altering FDA approved food additives all of their young lives, even in school lunches. How can any of them be held fully legally responsible for any of their bad acts, especially parents and/or their younger children who are most subject to the whims and whiles of bad government and big businesses; extremist capitalism at its worst perhaps, next to offensive (as opposed to defensive) wars. CGS
EXACTLY ANON 😂.
Its not any different with retired commenters here. Many waste 6, 7 … 10 hours a day on this blog?
Above GEB is an example, Olly been living rent free for 16 years, by his own account, on Turleys blog. X aka George is another. upstate farmer, hullbooby etc… And the kids have a problem?
And the fools here want to pass judgement on meta, google, facebook, when you all are the problem. Am I right, or am I right?
It is apparent to that there is a mental illness permeating this blog. .
The kicker is, you clowns think you’re intelligent, discussing issues. Really? Just a bunch of children screaming insults and threats day after day, the same garbage.
Watch the barrage of the insults….
Some of the “anti-Turley” crowds are living in the basement of their parents, afraid to walk out into the real world and communicate with other people who may have different ideas or opinions versus those poor fellows in the basement. They are screaming “age of rage” and jealous of the adoration given to others, but not them.
I think we’re beyond that “living in their parents basement” meme. Its now the geriatrics aka parents, themselves who are in their own basements. In diapers of course.
We got geriatrics here who waste a full day insulting and taunting each other. to what point… time on their hands?
Where are the parents we ask? But in reality, the question should be, where then are the spouses?
Where were the parents?
On social media of course.
Encouraging the progressive program to poison our water sources with fluoride which created the damage ADHD caused to millions of children.
Research has shown that higher fluoride levels in drinking water or urine are associated with higher reported ADHD symptoms (e.g., inattention, hyperactivity) in children and adolescents, particularly in studies from the U.S. and Mexico.
Sounds like you od’d one flouride friend.
fluo
Johnny
Funny you ask…
Some parents got wrecked by the Iraq war, then some got destroyed in Afghanistan, then some got decimated by PTSD turned to suicide with fentanyl and booze. Then some got financially destroyed losing everything they had in the 2008 markets crash and the rest got crushed by the COVID lockdown, then some lost their livelihoods to an influx of illegal labor into their industries. War is hell and so is living under globalization.
Anonymous, you’re absolutely right. You’ll have no argument from me. However is it an addiction to be on this blog every day or is it merely a digital version of old folks hanging out at a local donut shop arguing over the day’s topics?
It does not matter – each of us is ultimately responsible for our own lives and choices.
In an increasing number of states – marijuania is legal, can we sue because it is addictive ?
Can alcoholics sue because alcohol makers market alcohol ?
KGM’s problems will not go away if she gets $6M from social media companies.
Nor would they go away if social media disappeared.
Even in those actual instances where someone else has actually harmed you – the only person who can put your life back together is you.
Whether you are a real victim of a fake one – playing the victim does nothing to fix the problems in your life – you must do that yourself.
Anonymous is saying that some people are on this site too long every day and in some mysterious way Anonymous seems to know every commenter who happens to disagree with him/her?? This is the Anonymous that sits here all day ironic/hypocritical parasitically commenting nastily right after someone makes a decent point.
If it isn’t the hockey puck himself. Before we start, you drunk right now?
So, all anon comments here are from one source you’re saying. That’s expected from the likes of you. But rest assured, that’s not the case.
We know if fact you, dustoof, and farmer, use the anon moniker to attacks commenters here; and you hide behind anon regularly, thinking the hullbobby moniker should not be besmirched; detract from your internet brand? Whew, now that’s what one calls … retarded thinking. Eh? You truly think you have a brand here and you want to protect it. You’re crazy man.
How do we know all this. Simple, extensively trained wordpress technician. And AI makes it very easy to catalog you.
Forgot to ask, does your spouse know what you do all day on the internet? Your kids, if any?
How about, any of you out there?
Guessing ole Hullbooby has a secret internet life. You too anon?
Wow. You, “know if fact you, dustoof, and farmer, use the anon moniker to attacks commenters here; and you hide behind anon regularly, thinking the hullbobby moniker should not be besmirched; detract from your internet brand? Whew, now that’s what one calls … retarded thinking. Eh?”
If anyone is sounding crazy right now, it is you.
Does your wife know you waste hours a day here? The kids?
Do they all know you have a mental defect?
To the point. You’re the one reading anon’s stuff, you hang on every word and phrase and respond petulantly. So who’s the crazy one?
If you post as anonymous you should expect people will confuse you with other anonymous posters
This is a problem of your own making
You do not get to blame others
“…will confuse you with other anonymous posters. This is a problem of your own making”
More like a problem of WordPress’ making, with the added neglect of whoever Turley has doing his nuts and bolts site administration. Not everyone has a WP account. For those who don’t, the comment form on this site is *intended* to allow entry of a pseudonym after clicking the envelope icon and providing a not-to-be-divulged email address. In theory, that would allow non-WP posters to provide consistent names. The problem is that there apparently are sporadic WP bugs that frequently do not allow that to be done when using certain combinations of browsers and extensions (Firefox with NoScript and uBlockOrigin on Linux is one example). For that matter, it would be trivially easy to provide a sticky, short, FAQ-type instruction document about leaving comments that point out such things, and explain preferred practices, but Turley’s site admin can’t be bothered to make even that tiny effort. You cannot justifiably criticize a commenter for not using a consistent name when they have not been afforded the opportunity.
Decent point? Well, that’s relative is it not. Since when have you been anointed the comment czar?
Seen your comments… comes to mind…. those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.
You could not be more wrong. I am not retired.
We often have interesting conversations or make interesting observations/comments. To which, you then throw insults and scream at us for having those very interesting conversations or observations/comments.
I proudly use my moniker. I do not use the annony one. That would be beneath me.
You indeed prove that the Kettle is Black!
Great read sir. My have things changed since I was a kid growing up riding bikes with no helmets and staying out until street lights came on.
PS: I read sensitive. John Kennedy book. Exceptional. My thoughts. https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/senator-john-kennedy-a-national-treasure
Strange that this case should occur in California where they suddenly express some concern about the welfare of children by pursuing litigation against corporations with deep pockets (net worth of billions to trillions) yet the educational system does exactly the opposite by pushing a trans agenda. As far as I am concerned the “evil” is obvious in Meta and Google as much as the liberal / progressive schools systems try to advance their trans dogma while cutting out the supervision by parents.
Seems like there is a race to the bottom in both these systems.
I also have to take issue with the professor about smoking and its causation with malignancies. This was already quite obvious a relationship in the 1930’s when Debakey and Oschner noted the apparent use of smoking and nearly 80 lung cancer patients in 1939. Then the soaring rates in men after world war 2 when a marked increased in smoking was followed by soaring rates of lung cancer. And then they same phenomena was was seen in women as the their smoking increased and lung cancer became as common in women as in men. The legal profession did a good job of protecting the Tobacco companies well after cause and effect were obvious.
Social media = transgenderism = education = cigarette smoking. Good to know.
Parents have to share much of the blame. While I agree the apps can be addictive that is how almost every business works to get you to buy their products.
Now on parents I saw these kids being handed cell phone when their tiny hands could barely hold them to shush the babies. Parents before cell phones used those big plastic keys to do that, or if without them their own keys. Now almost every toddler is given a cell phone if they started to whine or cry, or the parent just doesn’t want to be bothered. I saw kids in and first grade show up with cell phones when we watched the grand-kids and dropped them off at school. Parents instead of doing things with their kids give them cell phones and video games and go into the other room to do their own thing and not be bothered by their children. They never set limits, they never supervise their use, and when teens never check on their use.
I am not saying all parents are like that, but to many are, and those are the kids that generally get in trouble.
Parents? What if the parents are the problem?
THE GREATEST GENERATION
What has become of us?
Great post! Those under age 50 are clueless about mental health issues caused by repeated use of cell phones, websites that feed the feed their gullible minds, etc. What they need most is a walk in the park without a cell phone and do it alone so they can ponder what they need to do to enhance their health, and the health of others in their lives.
Books are fun too.
Well said.
But in many cases it is not just the kids with their faces in their phones but the parents too. Wife and I had a date night the other week and at the restaurant, and many of the patrons had their faces in their phones and not talking to each other. We have had friends even whip out their phones in the middle of dinner to check on something. I make it a point to leave my phone in the truck so I can interact with them and not my phone.