A lawsuit that could change how social media is policed – Newstalk

Social media companies are facing one of their most serious turning points yet, after Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, settled a social media addiction lawsuit in the United States just days before it was due to go to court. The case was brought by a 19-year-old woman who alleges that social media algorithms left her addicted from a young age and caused anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia. While Snap has now settled, other defendants  including Instagram owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance, will face the courts. Technology Editor at The Irish Independent, Adrian Weckler, told The Anton Savage Show that the lawsuit is being watched closely across the tech industry.  “There’s a case going on in the States at the moment that everybody’s watching, especially in the social media industry,” he said, describing it as similar to the early legal actions taken against Big Tobacco. He noted that in Europe, the instinct has been to regulate the area. “We try to regulate it over here. We know that the Americans don’t like that. So it’s a very confused situation.” That tension is evident in Australia, which has introduced a world-first ban on social media use for under-16s. A user open social
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