Pleased to contribute to Bonnie Eslinger’s (Law360) excellent piece on the major bellwether litigation over Meta’s social media platforms and alleged harms to young users.

One of the most significant questions in the case is whether traditional consumer protection law can operate as a form of platform governance. If states can successfully challenge product design features as unfair, or public assurances about safety as misleading in light of what a company knew internally, state attorneys general may have a powerful way to scrutinize platform design without waiting for Congress to create a new regulatory regime.

The case also highlights an important distinction between proving that social media caused a particular individual’s psychiatric injury and establishing deception or unfair business practices. In the latter context, what a platform knew, what it said publicly, and what it did with that knowledge can take center stage.

Article link behind paywall: https://www.law360.com/articles/2512379/stakes-are-high-in-meta-bellwether-social-media-trial.