A loss by Meta could have ‘ripple effects’ across all social media platforms, says expertpublished at 22:25 BST 18 August
Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter
This is one of the biggest legal challenges to ever face Meta — and its effects could change the landscape of social media permanently, says James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell University.
If the plaintiffs prevail, there will likely be billions of dollars in damages and major structural changes to Meta. That could “add up, even for a company of Meta’s size,” Grimmelman says.
But the impacts may even be felt beyond Meta itself.
“This very well could have ripple effects for a lot of platforms… all of them have their own slice of concerns they could be targeted with,” he says. “The core idea that you could be held liable for interface and design… that cuts across the entire set.”
Grimmelmann adds that it’s hard to know how Meta will tackle the issues the plaintiffs set out over the course of the trial, especially because several Meta employees are being called up to the stand by the plaintiffs. We’re also not sure what the evidence will be.
“Lots of this stuff hasn’t really been extensively discussed in public,” he says.
But ultimately, if Meta doesn’t prevail here, one thing is clear: “Kids could have very substantially reduced access to social media.”
Not only will Meta be forced to remove the features that are “most appealing” to an audience of minors, but legislation outside of this lawsuit may limit their access altogether.
