Social media = cigarettes? | The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

In March, juries in California and New Mexico
delivered seminal verdicts holding Meta and YouTube liable for
failing to protect young users from harm.

Both verdicts found that the companies were negligent
in the design or operation of their platforms and that each company
knew their platforms could be dangerous when used by a minor.

The courts found that the design elements of the
platforms could be separated from the content hosted on the
platforms, thus removing the need to consider the First Amendment
or Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Joining us to break down the rulings and their
possible free speech implications is Mike Masnick, CEO & founder of
Techdirt & the Copia Institute.

Masnick is the author of “Everyone
Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should
Understand What They’re Actually Cheering For.”

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:29 Why these verdicts scare the hell out of
Mike

10:34 Are social media algorithms “addictive”?

21:45 Did Meta fail to protect kids?

30:37 The First Amendment and Section 230

43:13 Is social media the new Big Tobacco?

55:15 The role of parents in social media use

59:04: Outro

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