Attorney Mark Lanier says holding social media companies accountable may require sustained legal and public pressure. Speaking at the WIRED World Fair on Wednesday, he put it bluntly: “I think it just takes beating the TAR out of them.”
Lanier led the first social media addiction case to go to trial, which ended in March with a verdict against Meta and Google. The plaintiff was awarded $6 million in damages, a result Lanier described as a symbolic win compared with the companies’ financial scale.
He said cases brought by attorneys general on behalf of their states could have a greater impact. In a trial that began in August, attorneys general from several states, including Arkansas, accused Meta of failing to protect young users. Lanier’s firm served as outside counsel to Arkansas.
A few days into the trial, Meta agreed to a settlement of up to $16.7 billion for 51 US states and territories. The company also pledged changes to how teenagers use Instagram and Facebook, including a two-hour default time limit. TikTok agreed to similar limits in a September settlement in Alabama.
Lanier acknowledged that even billion-dollar settlements and verdicts may be treated by a company as a cost of doing business. But he argued that legal cases can also shape how the public and employees view social media platforms. He said greater awareness of companies’ actions, followed by demands for accountability, can help bring about change.
Sources: WIRED.