A California jury on Wednesday found that Meta and Google were to blame for the depression and anxiety of a woman who compulsively used social media as a small child, awarding her $3 million in a rare verdict holding Silicon Valley accountable for its role in fueling a youth mental health crisis.
The jurors concluded that Meta and Google should pay the woman $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta on the hook for 70% of that amount.
The jury also decided that Meta and Google’s actions should trigger punitive damages, which means there will be a separate phase of the trial where the jury will decide what amount of damages are appropriate to punish the multi-trillion-dollar companies for their conduct.
CLASS ACTION NOW! Gut these psychotic corporations that are experimenting on our fucking minds in real time, and nationalize their digital infrastructure so it can be run for the betterment of society rather than the profits of shareholders. Make us all the stakeholders in what can be a transformational tool for social good if freed from endless technoligarchical greed.
FUCK CLASS ACTIONS! Those are made to cater to the defendant, by consolidating a ton of independent lawsuits into a single one. It only makes the defendant’s job easier, while the individuals who were directly affected get a few nickels and a “we’re legally obligated to say we’re sorry” letter. Sue them directly, and make them defend every. Single. Individual. Case. You want to really make them hurt? The best way to do that is with a million individual lawsuits, not one big lawsuit.
Not sure I agree with that. I’ll take an unexpected five bucks because of Red Bull’s false advertising that some ingredient doesn’t have literal energy (calories) to it. I wouldn’t start my own lawsuit over it, which may or may not be as successful. More importantly, every class action notice I’ve ever gotten had instructions to opt out and initiate my own legal action if I so choose. Also, if we’re talking about a class that includes thousands/millions of people, there are only so many lawyers involved in whatever specialty.
Tl;dr class actions penalize companies on behalf of those who wouldn’t realistically file their own lawsuit while still allowing those who would.
I agree with you, I fully support whatever mechanism that can handle and managed to provided the best path to success and exact the most pain and punishment to these companies in the name of restoring the most victims of their ongoing crimes. I assumed that was class action but I’m all for a million separate trials too, however that happens.