March 25, 2026
The way you use social media may change forever because of what just happened today and the flood gates are about to bust open.
That’s because a jury in California just decided on a landmark case and found Meta and YouTube liable for creating products that led to harmful and addictive behavior by young users.
But the headline is it’s the precedent this California jury – and a New Mexico jury yesterday – just set.
These social media tech companies – these giants – that have been basically untouchable for years – have now been held accountable by a jury – really for the first time. And these new precedents are awfully similar to the precedent set when the courts finally determined that cigarette companies were liable for the harmful effects of their products – which then led the government to involved and make huge changes.
But how did this happen? And what will it mean for you?
First – let me quickly explain the cases. In California a young woman used YouTube and Meta because according to her — from a young age she spent “all day” on those platforms chasing likes and views and that led to addictive use of the platforms which then contributed to her mental health problems, depression, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube tried to argue that those problems were caused not because of the woman’s addiction to their platforms but because of problems in her own family and school life. Mark Zuckerberg even showed up to testify in person in this case. But in the end – the jury sided with the young woman. By the way – she also sued TikTok and Snapchat accusing the same thing — but those two platforms settled with her out of court before this trial began.
And on top of that — just yesterday another jury in New Mexico found meta liable after the state of New Mexico sued the social giant for knowingly harming the mental health of children and concealing what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms. In this case the jury handed meta a fine of $375 million– which is the maximum penalty for each violation under the state law. Meta has said that they disagree with both of these verdicts and will appeal. Don’t get it twisted – they are going to fight this tooth and nail. And the thing is – there are about a thousand other cases just like these two that are working their way through the court system – and now that we’ve seen these two verdicts – as I said – the flood gates are about to open.
So – now – let’s talk about why this is such a big deal and what it means for you.
For decades big tech companies and social media companies have been able to hide behind what’s known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The 26-word law that many say “created the internet”. Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act says that these online platforms cannot be held liable or sued – generally – for the things all of us post on the platforms. Now – why Section 230 was created, the history behind it, why no one has changed it and how these new social media verdicts parallel what happened with cigarette industry in this country– is a whole different issue which I just talked about in a deep dive video…that I just posted to my FactsHQ Substack.
Now – there’s an upside and a downside of Section 230. The upside is it allows all of us to freely post whatever we want on the internet….because these private companies aren’t held legally liable for what we say on their private platforms. The downside of Section 230 is that the companies aren’t held liable for what we say on their platform nor have they been held liable – until now – for what happens to us because of their platform.
For years – local courts, federal courts and even the supreme court have said Section 230 is clear and they’ve all generally shielded these companies. So why were these cases able to get through? Because they were not about the content. The allegations are about the way the platforms are designed. The juries found the structure is designed to be addictive and harmful especially to young people…the content – while it’s an issue – wasn’t the problem. Therefore Section 230 was not a factor.
So what will it mean for you and me? Well – we’ll see what happens on appeal – but it’s very possible that these social media companies will try and get ahead of what’s coming and perhaps could start making some structural changes to their platforms. It’s also possible that congress – like they did with the cigarette industry – will force some changes to be made.
For all the history and backstory – make sure you go check out my deep dive.
