This week we explore a shift in how social media platforms are perceived, which could open the door to them taking greater accountability for potential harms experienced by users. The trigger is two recent landmark verdicts in the US. In California, a jury found Meta and Google negligent for the design of their platforms while in New Mexico, a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million after it was argued the company misled the public about the safety of its platforms. Until now, platforms have largely sheltered behind a legal theory that argues that they aren't publishers and therefore not liable for the content posted by users or the harm it cause. These cases re-direct the source of harm to the way these platforms are designed - much more akin to how we think about product safety.
Links
Article about Meta and Google found liable (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5746125/meta-google-social-media-addiction-trial
Article about New Mexico child safety verdict (Reuters) https://www.aol.com/articles/jury-orders-meta-pay-375-210501487.html
New Mexico Department of Justice — official verdict statement https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/new-mexico-department-of-justice-wins-landmark-verdict-against-meta/
Argument against social media verdicts (TechDirt) https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/26/everyone-cheering-the-social-media-addiction-verdicts-against-me…
Australia’s digital duty of care — issues paper (Department of Infrastructure) https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/digital-duty-care-australia-developi…
Australia advancing digital duty of care legislation (The Conversation) https://theconversation.com/australia-will-impose-a-digital-duty-of-care-on-tech-companies-to-reduce…
Australia wants social media to be safe by design — what does that actually look like? (The Conversation https://theconversation.com/australia-wants-social-media-to-be-safe-by-design-what-does-that-actuall…
Credits
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au
