Is Social Media the New Tobacco?

It was a big moment when a jury in Los Angeles last week found Meta and YouTube negligent for harming a young user, concluding that their products’ addictive design features caused her anxiety and depression.

Katrin spoke to Cecilia Kang, who covers technology policy, about what could change as a result. Could the social media ruling follow the path of the landmark cases against big tobacco a few decades ago? — Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer

Cecilia, is this Big Tech’s big tobacco moment, as some of our colleagues put it?

It’s too early to say definitively. But it’s as close as we’ve come to seeing real accountability for these social media companies.

Big tobacco companies were under scrutiny for decades before smoking was universally acknowledged to be harmful. So the question is, will consumers start to turn away from social media the way they did from cigarettes?

That’s very frightening to these really powerful technology companies. They’ve essentially been regulation free in the U.S. and have had so much room to grow their products without almost any oversight.

There have been lawsuits against tech companies before. What was different this time?

What the lawyers and plaintiffs in these cases are arguing is that the technology is harmful to people — just like tobacco, just like opioids.

They’re saying the tech companies have created platforms that are addictive. Tools like infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations get users to want to come back for more and more — particularly young users whose brains are still developing and who are susceptible to these sorts of technical tricks.

It’s a new and clever legal strategy because it gets around this very powerful legal shield that the tech companies have been able to hide behind for three decades.

Tell me about that shield.

That legal shield is a law called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It’s basically a speech protection that says internet companies can’t be held liable for what their users post. So Meta can say, OK, someone said something incredibly defamatory on Facebook, but you can’t sue us. You can only sue the person who posted.

But what we’re seeing in these lawsuits on social media addiction is that they evade the speech argument by saying, we’re not actually concerned about the speech. We’re concerned about how you have engineered your platforms to be harmful and addictive.

Meta and YouTube want to appeal. How likely is it that they win?

It’s not impossible. Last week’s decision was made by a jury — in other words, ordinary people who were sympathetic to the plaintiff’s argument. But a lot of legal experts say that an appeals court judge might be more sympathetic to the argument the social media companies make: We are speech platforms, you should protect free speech.

The bottom line is that it will take several verdicts against tech companies before we have a legal precedent that’s bulletproof.

Will last week’s verdict encourage more lawsuits?

Absolutely. More than 2,000 cases have already been filed. And the more cases win, the more the floodgates are going to open.

The $6 million that was awarded to one plaintiff last week may not be a lot to Meta and YouTube. But it’s life-changing for one person. Also, people believe this is the right thing to do, to bring forth a completely new legal argument against the technology companies and to hold them accountable.

The legal battles could take years. But are we already seeing a shift in how these companies are regarded?

There is no question that these trials affect the public’s perception of social media. Going back to tobacco, the tobacco industry won several of its cases, too. But in the process, people learned things. They realized they’d been lied to, that cigarettes can cause cancer. The trials basically educated the population.

I think you’re seeing something similar now. I think long-term that’s probably a more powerful threat for the social media companies than the legal threat is. What they’re really afraid of is that the public says, Enough is enough, we’re losing our kids to social media addiction.

What would safer social media look like for kids? What would that look like?

There are things the social media companies themselves could do, like shut off algorithmic recommendations for underage users.

Beyond that, you can ban it for children under a certain age. You can ban it in schools. You can limit the kinds of apps that can be downloaded on phones.

How much of this is already happening?

Australia has already enacted a social media ban for under-16 year olds and other countries are at various stages of considering or implementing age bans: France, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia. These are really interesting case studies.

Going back to the comparison to tobacco, there are age restrictions for tobacco use. And there is now talk of a social media health warning akin to the ones on cigarette packets.

Related: Indonesia’s government summoned officials from Google and Meta, saying the companies have failed to comply with a new law that bars children younger than 16 from accessing social media.

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Despite facing a monthlong U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, Iran still has the ability to retaliate with missiles and drones, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday. That leaves President Trump with some difficult choices, my colleagues David Sanger and Tyler Page write.

With more than 4,000 Marines in the region and 2,000 paratroopers on their way, Trump could put muscle behind his threats to take over Kharg Island’s oil-exporting facilities or attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz.

But the risks are enormous. Trump admitted on Sunday that if he sent troops to seize Kharg Island, it would require the U.S. military “to be there for a while.” And if he followed through on threats to blow up Iran’s electric plants, oil infrastructure or desalination plants, Iran could strike back against similar facilities in the Persian Gulf.

Follow our live updates.

Economic fallout: The price of essentials like food and fuel is up around the globe. In the U.S., gas now costs $4 a gallon on average, a multiyear high.

Britain’s role: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is eager to keep his country out of an unpopular war. But his words are clashing with the images of U.S. warplanes taking off from U.K. territory.

Lebanon: Israel outlined plans to occupy a swath of southern Lebanon, even after its ground invasion ends.

Cutting off Russians from the world

President Vladimir Putin is taking bold new steps to bring Russia’s internet fully under Kremlin control. In recent weeks, the Russian authorities have begun periodically turning off mobile access and blocking more foreign apps.

They have also moved to hobble Telegram, used by more than 100 million Russians, and force people onto MAX, an unencrypted, state-controlled app. The government has cited security reasons for the internet outages. But experts say the government is conducting the sort of targeted blackouts that it would impose in the event of unrest.

Russians are scrambling to find new tools to circumvent the restrictions, including downloading VPNs. My colleague Valerie Hopkins walks us through the daily challenges of connecting to the Russian web. Watch the video.

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King Charles will travel to the U.S. for a state visit this month despite tensions over the Iran war.
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The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Colorado law that prohibited mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of L.G.B.T.Q. minors.
Four visiting U.S. senators urged Taiwanese lawmakers to break an impasse over a big increase in military spending.
A judge ordered that construction be halted on Trump’s proposed White House ballroom.

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The most clicked link in your newsletter yesterday was about Air Canada’s chief executive stepping down.

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Pet portraits

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MORNING READ

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AROUND THE WORLD

There’s hot dog trouble in Iceland

Hot dog prices in Iceland vary depending on the stand and the toppings, but for the most part, you could expect to pay about 750 krona, around $6, for one. But these snacks are not immune to inflation.

Baldur Ingi Halldorsson runs Iceland’s most famous hot dog stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, which translates to “The Town’s Best Hot Dogs.” He said he has raised prices more in the past few years than in the previous 20.

“People are angry with us because we’re always raising prices,” he said. “We’re usually always on the news when we raise the price.” Read about how inflation is hitting Iceland’s hot dogs.

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RECIPE

Matzo ball soup a la Mexicana is a spicy take on a Passover classic. The broth gets a bright kick from green chiles, cilantro and garlic, and is garnished with avocado and lime. Meat from the chicken used to flavor the broth makes for tasty tacos or enchiladas the next day.