‘Resounding Verdict’: Fox Legal Contributors Argue Landmark Case Is ‘Beginning of the End’ for Social Media Giants

Fox News legal contributors argued that Wednesday’s landmark decision in the case against Meta and Google could spell doom for social media platforms.

On Wednesday afternoon, a jury ruled that Meta — the owner of Facebook — and Google were liable for worsening someone’s mental state. The plaintiff, a woman identified as Kelly, argued that the addictive nature of the platforms contributed to her suffering severe mental health issues. She was awarded $3 million by the jury.

Previously, social media platforms were essentially immune to such lawsuits through Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The clause provided “limited immunity from legal liability to providers and users of ‘interactive computer services.'”

Appearing on Fox News to react to the verdict, contributor Josh Ritter called it a “resounding victory” that set a new precedent for social media moving forward. He continued:

Well, as far as, you know, writing checks for these two huge multi-billion-dollar companies, it’s nothing; but it’s huge as far as what it means for all of the other plaintiffs. This is now blood in the water. They now understand that these companies are vulnerable, that Section 230 is not going to protect them, that these arguments work, that even with a plaintiff who had other contributing factors, they can be found liable.

I mean, remember, too, what we said about this plaintiff, that she was dealing with many other things that could have been contributing to her damages. So, I realized that that figure may not seem large when you’re comparing it to the size of these companies, but it is large when you’re considering that they’re holding them responsible for $3 million in damages to a person who is already dealing with a lot in her life. So, to me, it’s a resounding verdict, even though the money itself is probably not a check that’s going to be all that difficult for these companies to write.

Legal editor Kerri Urbahn then joined the conversation, explaining how this case could be the “beginning of the end” for the way social media platforms are designed.

“The money is nothing, right?” Urbahn began. “Meta is valued at something like $3.1 trillion, so this is pennies to them, but it’s everything in terms of all the other cases and the implications. Look, I think in some ways, this is the beginning of the end in terms of how social media companies have been operating and designing their platforms up until now.

“Now look, there are very smart people at these companies and I’m sure they’ll find other ways to make sure their user base stays engaged, but they are officially on notice that they could get in very serious trouble if they continue down the path that they have been on for this time, and now we look to see what happens in these other cases.”

Watch above via Fox News

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