“Dangerous and Addictive Algorithms”
KGM’s attorney, Matthew Bergman, said the trial represents uncharted legal territory. He told the BBC it would be the first time a jury would hear evidence holding a social media company directly accountable for addiction-related harms.
“Unfortunately, there are all too many kids in the United States, the UK, and around the world who are suffering as KGM does because of the dangerous and addictive algorithms that the social media platforms foist on unsuspecting kids,” Bergman said. “These companies are going to have to explain to a jury why their profits were more important than the lives of our young people.”
High Stakes for Silicon Valley
Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said adverse verdicts could threaten the very foundation of social media businesses. Still, he cautioned that proving a direct causal link between platform design and physical or psychological harm remains a steep challenge.
“The fact that the plaintiffs have been able to sell that idea has opened the door to a whole bunch of new legal questions that the law wasn’t really designed to answer,” Goldman said.
