The colossal legal offensive that puts social networks on the ropes in the US.

Yesterday was a very dark day for social networks in the United States, where the 2.0 giants were confronted with two pieces of news (both terrible) that surely clouded the spirits of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat.. The first of that news, which was echoed Bloombergreported two colossal (and conveniently consolidated) lawsuits that fully affected the large social networks. And the second news, originally published by Reutersplaced an internal Meta study under the spotlight, according to which young people with body image problems are three times more predisposed than the rest to be exposed to content related to eating disorders and which ultimately end up further deteriorating their own body image.

Although it is probably a coincidence that both news items have emerged on the same day, the truth is that no one will have really been surprised by the content of both news items.. It is no secret, after all, that social networks are potentially poisonous, particularly for younger people.

The lawsuits accuse Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat of deliberately designing their respective platforms to create addiction among users.. According to the lawsuits, which are about to reach the courts in the United States, the heavy dependence of users on social networks would end up leading to depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, self-harm and even suicide (ills that especially affect the youngest and most vulnerable users to a greater degree).

Both disputes are extraordinarily relevant because they will probably result in multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlements and a more than notable change in the way minors use 2.0 platforms.

The colossal litigation currently being prepared in the United States could forever change the landscape of social networks

Lawsuits against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat have been in the works for years. AND If the affected companies have so far been able to avoid similar complaints, it is because they have invoked Section 230 of the Communications Decency Acta rule introduced by the Clinton Administration that exempts online service providers from liability for content distributed by third parties through their platforms. The two lawsuits that are currently being prepared on the other side of the pond haggle over the content of the law that has until now been used as a parapet by social networks in the United States to emphasize that what is reportable in this case is not the content of third parties but the design (deliberate and dangerous in equal parts) of products that prioritize engagement and benefits over security.

If the courts accept the litigants’ argument that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat have designed their respective platforms to make them deliberately addictive (as suggested by internal statements by the defendants), Cases directly related to tobacco and opioids could be cited as precedents.

What seems clear in any case is that if the social networks being sued and the thousands of plaintiffs involved in the lawsuits reach out-of-court settlements, Such deals will likely involve figures in the billions of dollars. And the companies concerned could also be forced to change their business model in relation to the protection of minors in their domains beyond the measures adopted until now on a voluntary basis.

The first trial resulting from both lawsuits is expected to begin in Los Angeles in January of next year. In this first lawsuit, the protagonist is a 19-year-old Californian girl who claims to have been addicted to social networks for more than a decade and to suffer from anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia as a result of the intensive use of these platforms. Two more court cases will follow (and there are many more trials in the pipeline).