The Intersection of Social Media, AI, and Product Liability | Benesch – JDSupra

[co-author: Brinson Elliott] State governments, public school districts, and individuals are suing social media companies, such as TikTok and Snapchat, alleging that defects in their algorithms and platform features cause psychological and physical harm, especially to young users. These cases raise novel questions about technology regulation and consumer protection and are testing the boundaries of product liability doctrine. Courts have yet to decide whether these companies are liable for alleged harm, but they have issued several rulings narrowing the scope of litigation theories that can survive dismissal. Social media: platforms, products, or services? Disagreement over whether social media platforms should be classified as products under the traditional product liability framework has arisen primarily in cases involving youth social media addiction. There are now 1,867 cases pending in the Adolescent Social Media Addiction Multi-District Litigation (MDL). On June 16, 2025, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers, who is overseeing the social media addiction MDL in the Northern District of California, selected 11 lawsuits for bellwether trials. The cases involve six school districts (AZ, GA, KY, MD, NJ, and SC) and five individual plaintiffs, with trials beginning in 2026. In November 2023, Judge Rogers ruled that various design defects alleged by plaintiffs
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