LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Parents who were in the Los Angeles courtroom for Mark Zuckerberg's testimony say they're furious and they're frustrated. That includes the parents of Englyn Roberts, who died by suicide in 2020. The Roberts are plaintiffs in their own suit against Meta and other social media companies. Englyn's dad, Tony, blames social media, at least in part, for what happened to his daughter.
TONY ROBERTS: As a dad, it makes you angry. It makes you sad. I'm pissed because now we get to see, and we saw today just some of the evidence that shows that the son of a guns knew, and they didn't care.
FADEL: Englyn Roberts' mother, Brandy, says she wants change.
BRANDY ROBERTS: They have the money to get the researchers, to get the engineers to design products in a way that would keep it safe for kids, as well as adults and design their products to where they don't put profits over safety.
FADEL: Lawyers for social media companies have argued that a child experiencing mental health issues after using one of their platforms does not mean that social media is responsible. For more on the Los Angeles case, let's bring in Darrell West. He's a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. Welcome to the program.
DARRELL WEST: Thank you. Nice to be with you.
FADEL: What's at stake in this trial?
WEST: This trial represents the test of a novel legal theory. For 30 years, tech platforms have been shielded from legal liability by congressional legislation. They have not been held accountable for what people do on their sites. And the plaintiff, as you pointed out, is this 20-year-old California woman who claims that social media firms have defective products, so she is suing under the product liability law. That helps get around the congressional legislation from 30 years ago, which limits legal liability. So this whole case is really a crucial test of whether the courts will allow greater legal liability on the part of social media platforms.
FADEL: So then what the jury decides, whether they decide that social media is addictive and harmful, or they decide in favor of the tech company, could have much larger ramifications.
WEST: It definitely could be a landmark decision that could affect a lot of other things. There are 1,600 other lawsuits that are pending. So what happens in this case could have ramifications for those cases. There also is pending legislation in many countries. Australia already has banned social media...
FADEL: Right.
WEST: ...Use for those under the age of 16. Spain, Denmark and Malaysia are considering similar bills. There already are states such as California that have enacted bills requiring stronger age verification, ways to protect personal privacy and limiting the way that algorithms and the design features on social media sites operate. Congress also is considering the Kids Online Safety Act, which would protect young users. That bill actually has passed the Senate but has not come before the House yet, so the trial result could affect the passage of that bill and other youth safeguards.
FADEL: So what questions would you most like to see answered through research into the mental health effects of social media in this trial? As you're watching this trial, what answers are you looking for?
WEST: I think one of the key issues in the trial that I think everybody is watching is just how the jurors evaluate social media and this claim that social media is addicting. The companies, of course, would agree that social media is engaging, but they, of course, deny that it is addictive. And in this particular case, they claim the young woman suffered mental and emotional problems, but they blame her childhood and apparently, she had a turbulent family situation and not her social media usage. So it'll be interesting how this jury made up of ordinary people will evaluate that kind of defense.
FADEL: Darrell West of the Brookings Institution. Thank you so much.
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