The Message in the Big Social Media Verdict

The verdict by the jury in Los Angeles this week against Meta and Google, who own Instagram and YouTube respectively is being compared by some to what happened to the tobacco industry decades ago.

As one writer put it, “the verdict is set to have far reaching ripple effects. It could be big tech’s big tobacco moment, with thousands more similar cases waiting in the wings.”

The jurors agreed with the woman who brought the lawsuit whose attorney argued that Meta and Googler “built machines designed to addict the brains of children and they did it on purpose.”

And that the two social media companies intentionally made their platforms more addictive to children in order to boost profitsm, a decision that led to mental health problems among kids.

Will this verdict result in changes by the social media business? No one knows for sure.

But the decision has sparked more talk than there already is about what and how parents can and should do when it comes to their younger kids’ use of social media.

In today’s hyper-digital world that includes algorithms and AI, and social media companies that a jury said purposely aimed at addicting kids, old fashioned parenting, with strict controls and accountability may become the most important thing of all.

(Photo Getty Images)