{"id":1445,"date":"2026-08-14T04:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2026-08-14T04:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:16:09","slug":"circling-like-vultures-california-leads-new-attack-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1445","title":{"rendered":"Circling Like Vultures: California Leads New Attack on Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"
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T<\/span>he tech industry is reeling from the latest court verdict from New Mexico, where a judge and jury last week slapped Facebook and Instagram\u2019s parent company, Meta, with $567 million in fines to pay for various treatment services for youth who supposedly have been harmed by social-media usage. The court also demanded changes in the platforms\u2019 design. This comes on top of $375 million in civil fines that a jury in March imposed on the company for supposedly violating the state\u2019s consumer-protection law, known as the Unfair Practices Act.<\/p>\n

Read more Poor Francesca Hong, a Victim of Milwaukee\u2019s Missing Election Results<\/a><\/p>\n

As Politico reported, the New Mexico decision is the \u201cfirst time a court has ordered a broad package of user-experience changes to a major social media platform based on a final judgment about harms to users.\u201d Furthermore, the state\u2019s \u201cinnovative\u201d approach to the litigation \u2014 avoiding First Amendment issues by referring to social media as a public nuisance similar to a polluting factory \u2014 \u201ccould serve as a blueprint for other states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now this blueprint unfolds. The latest trial, which is scheduled to begin next week, is spearheaded by California and several other state attorneys general. In People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms Inc.<\/em>, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey argue that \u201cMeta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.\u201d The complaint argues the company \u201chas ignored the sweeping damage these platforms have caused to the mental and physical health of our nation\u2019s youth.\u201d\u00a0(RELATED: Suing Social Media Won\u2019t Save the Children \u2014 But It Could Silence Everyone)<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s some moxie, to blame a single company for damaging the mental health of 73-million American minors. But leave it to state prosecutors to reach for the stars.<\/p>\n

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How can a company function if every cool new design feature is further proof that it\u2019s hell-bent on addicting users?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, 25 other states also are pursuing cases, with more litigation \u2014 public and private \u2014 certain to follow. It\u2019s hard to see how companies that simply provide a service that people like to use can be blamed for every societal ill, including teens\u2019 lack of self-esteem, eating disorders and depression. But that\u2019s where we\u2019re at, as prosecutors attack the firms for including features that make them entertaining and useful. Why, yes, social media can be addictive, but so can almost anything from fast-food restaurants to driving to reading newspapers. The litigation is not confined to progressive states. It appears to be the nation\u2019s latest social panic.\u00a0(RELATED: Don\u2019t Sue the Mirror)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noting that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act has stopped prosecutors from filing lawsuits based on speech and content issues, Reason<\/em> magazine\u2019s Elizabeth Nolan Brown explains that \u201cstate prosecutors have gotten creative\u201d by \u201cclaiming that this isn\u2019t about user-generated speech but about tech companies\u2019 product design. In this case, the states claim that providing photo filters is contributing to teens\u2019 body dysmorphia and that \u2018psychologically manipulative\u2019 features like displaying post \u2018like\u2019 counts\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sounds like suing auto manufacturers for including features \u2014 heated seats, automatic transmissions, adaptive cruise control and satellite radio \u2014 that encourage people to drive. After all, nearly 37,000 Americans died in vehicle collisions in 2025, so the manufacturers must be to blame for designing cars in a way that makes them comfortable and enticing enough to spend hours at a time on the road. Then again, I suppose I shouldn\u2019t give state AGs any more clever ideas.<\/p>\n

Nolan Brown makes some other apt comparisons: \u201cIf Meta and other Big Tech companies are guilty of \u2018addicting\u2019 users simply by designing highly appealing products \u2026 then basically any industry, religious practice, leisure space, or lifestyle program could be guilty, too.\u201d I\u2019m personally addicted to motorcycle riding and pizza consumption, but I actually like that Harley-Davidson\u2019s V-twins make an intoxicating rumble and that the local pizzeria makes a garlic-infused sauce that I can\u2019t resist. It should go without saying, but I\u2019m responsible for moderating my riding and eating habits.<\/p>\n

Read more The Spectacle Ep. 453: Burritogate Exposes Gen Z\u2019s Affordability Crisis<\/a><\/p>\n

At some point Americans \u2014 and our court system\u2014 need to act like adults and recognize that every technological advancement offers costs and benefits and that the best way to minimize the downsides in a free society is to encourage people to use new technologies in a responsible manner and accept the consequences when they don\u2019t. Regarding social media and children, tech companies have provided endless tools for parents to control their kids\u2019 usage. Our entire system of government is based on the idea that individuals and families are responsible for their own behavior, so it\u2019s unclear why the latest media trends should cause us to abandon that sound principle.\u00a0(RELATED: Parents Have Everything They Need to Keep Their Children Safe Online)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Certainly, everyone wants to protect children and teens, whose brains are still developing and aren\u2019t known for always making sound judgments. But who really believes that hundreds of millions of dollars spent on government-directed youth-treatment services will appreciably improve the mental health of young people? These lawsuits seem mainly designed to score big payouts that will yield few positive results. And forcing companies to redesign their products based on the demands of trial attorneys and prosecutors heads into dangerous territory.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually quite difficult to directly tie teen social problems to social media. It\u2019s been a long time since I was a teen in the 1970s. That was long before cellphones and personal computers, but I suffered from all the same common symptoms that the anti-social-media crusaders point to in our modern era: awkwardness, loneliness, a lack of self-esteem and insecurity. Anxieties and trouble fitting in are standard adolescent fare. Social media likely has exacerbated these conditions, but changes in family life and other societal trends play a role, too.<\/p>\n

Our modern society tends to over-diagnose everything, so the measurement of teen mental-health problems likely is skewed, notes the Cato Institute\u2019s Adam Omary. That\u2019s a good point given that many conditions didn\u2019t even have names in previous eras. He highlights an often-overlooked reality: \u201cMeanwhile, youth have been doing better on many other outcomes:\u00a0less crime,\u00a0less smoking,\u00a0less drug use,\u00a0fewer teen pregnancies\u00a0and\u00a0fewer high school dropouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practically speaking, these state lawsuits speak to the pressing need for a federal approach toward social-media regulation that provides protections similar to those in the Section 230 law. How can a company function if every cool new design feature is further proof that it\u2019s hell-bent on addicting users? How can an industry survive \u2014 let alone one that\u2019s so vital to our economy \u2014 if any of the millions of its product users can blame their mental-health problems on these platforms?<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s time to stop viewing innovations as public nuisances and start taking responsibility for our own lives.<\/p>\n

READ MORE from Steven Greenhut:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Real Threat to California Election Integrity? Biased Ballot Titles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget the Singularity: Universal AI Surveillance Is Here<\/strong><\/p>\n

California\u2019s Recycled Enviro Strategies Keep Backfiring<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at [email\u00a0protected].<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Read more The Spectacle Ep. 452: The War on Moms and Babies: Lindsay Clancy Case, Fauci, and Vaccines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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