Enfield mother relieved after landmark social media case jury verdict

Wednesday’s landmark jury ruling in a social media addiction case was watched closely by an Enfield mother who’s also suing social media companies, including Meta, after her daughter took her own life a few years ago. She said her daughter’s death was fueled by an addiction to the platforms.

“We deserve this win. The whole, all of us who have lost our children deserve this win,” Tammy Rodriguez said.

She jumped for joy after a jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a social media addiction case. The verdict found the social media companies negligent in the design and operation of their platforms to the point where it was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff.

This is the first of many cases brought by families accusing social media companies of harming their children. Rodriguez is suing after her 11-year-old daughter, Selena, took her life in the summer of 2021. She pointed to Selena’s struggles with bullying and a change in her behavior.

“She was doing things she never would have done in the past, very risky things,” Rodriguez said.

In a statement to NBC News, Meta called teen mental health “profoundly complex” and “couldn’t be linked to a single app,” saying in part: “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”

Google, which owns YouTube, said the case “misunderstands” YouTube, saying it’s a “responsibly built streaming site”.

Quinnipiac University law professor Wayne Unger says this is a landmark verdict for other similar cases in court.

“For the first time, we are holding companies civilly liable for the harms that they have caused,” he said.

He says the ruling means Meta and YouTube didn’t adequately warn users about the dangers of using their platforms. He says down the line, this could mean companies changing their behaviors and adjusting their platforms.

“That means change their products to now make them essentially legally compliant or, in other words, to mitigate the new legal exposure that they have,” Unger said.

An exposure Rodriguez hopes could bring real change.

“People need to know the real truth.”

Rodriguez’s case still remains pending in federal court.

Unger says for social media companies, the easiest thing that could happen, for example, is putting a warning label on their products. He says there could be changes with likes and reshares as well.