The Rise of Consumer Protection and Product Liability Claims Against Digital Platforms
A growing wave of litigation in U.S. courts targets harms arising from social media platform design. Leading experts from Emory, Georgetown, Harvard, and the Tech Justice Law Project will discuss how courts are handling consumer protection and product liability claims—and what the future may hold.
Organized by the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) and Georgetown’s Institute for Technology Law and Policy.
In-Person & Livestreamed
500 First St NW
Washington, DC 20001
10:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT
Co-Sponsors
Recent years have seen a growing wave of consumer protection and product liability litigation focused on harms alleged to arise from the design of social media platforms. Litigators, researchers, and policymakers across technology, law, and policy have focused on a range of specific platform design elements, including extended use and gamification design, recommender systems, and default privacy settings.
While platforms have historically enjoyed broad protections from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the First Amendment, legal decisions have become increasingly nuanced in regards to design. US courts now appear open to allow some consumer protection and product liability claims against platforms to proceed. Indeed, in the last several years, judges have parsed through intricate claims, including those related to Meta’s addictive design, the role of Snap’s design in facilitating dangerous driving and access to fentanyl, and the design of TikTok’s recommender system and dangerous challenges.
This discussion will take stock of how courts across the US are grappling with pressing and novel questions related to platform liability and design. Bringing together leading experts – including litigators, advocates, and academics – the panel will highlight current cases and discuss how the social media litigation landscape may evolve in the years ahead.
Key Questions
- What protections do Section 230 and First Amendment afford digital platforms?
- What claims in relation to social media platform design appear likely to survive Section 230 and First Amendment-grounded challenges?
- What changes could emerge through litigation? What concrete possibilities are there for settlement or a judgement?
- What’s next? What will be the status of consumer protection litigation against platforms 3-5 years from now?
Moderator: Peter Chapman, KGI
Speakers:
- Meetali Jain, Tech Justice Law Project
- Meg Leta Jones, Georgetown Communication, Culture, & Technology program
- Matthew Lawrence, Emory Law
- S. Bryn Austin, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health