Over the past few years, hundreds of families and school districts around the country have sued big tech companies on the grounds that the hypnotic properties of social media popular with children have left too many of them unwell.
Tech companies, claiming First Amendment protections, have sought to get these sorts of suits quickly dismissed.
But on Tuesday, a federal judge in California issued a ruling to make that more difficult.
Forty years ago, drunken driving was an epidemic, claiming the lives of young people, a seemingly unmanageable problem until a group of mothers committed themselves to pushing for laws that brought accountability.
It was a pivotal moment in the modern history of public health, and, in the same way, 2023 is likely to be remembered as an inflection point in the health crisis surrounding social media.
Persons:
ideation, Letitia James, —
Organizations:
Seattle Public Schools, New, Meta, Facebook, Tech
Locations:
New York, California