Meta, Google lose $3 million in social media case

A California jury ordered Google and Meta to pay a total of $3 million on Wednesday remarkable judgment in favor of a young plaintiff whose family claimed the companies knowingly made their social media platforms addictive to teenagers.

As CalMatters’ Colin Letcher explains, the case is one of a series of lawsuits seeking to hold creators of sites like YouTube and Facebook responsible for allegedly designing their products to be addictive, despite knowing the damage they could do to users’ mental health.

Both companies said they disagreed with the ruling, and Google said it plans to appeal.

• Jose Castanedaa Google spokesperson, in a statement: “This case fails to understand YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

Still pending: Hundreds of other personal injury lawsuits filed by schools, attorneys general and others alleging recklessness by tech companies. In New Mexico, a jury recently found Meta liable for “unfair and deceptive” practices under state law and ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages.

A case currently playing out in federal court based in California also had a key hearing this week. The defendants, which include Google and Meta but also TikTok and Snap, have urged a judge to dismiss the case, and a decision on that request is likely to come in the next few weeks.

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The state wants to change the rules for transporting hazardous waste, but doesn’t exactly make it easy for the public to understand why, writes CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde.

Last year, the Department of Toxic Substances Control proposed easing some tracking rules for companies as well as the University of California system when they transport toxic waste on their own properties and on some public roads. The department added hundreds of pages to its rulemaking protocol, which includes federal reports on traffic accidents — such as crashes, spills and other incidents.

But when it came time for the public to comment on the proposal in January, the department directed the public to a broken link to access the documents. To see the documents, people had to submit a public records request.

Although a spokeswoman said the department was following state law, Angela Johnson Mezaros, an attorney for Earthjustice, said the move was “confusing.”

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Last year, staff members reported seven allegations of rape at the Otay Mesa, San Diego County immigration detention center run by the for-profit company CoreCivic. But law enforcement did not investigate any of these casesCalMatters’ Wendy Fry and Nigel Duara report.

CoreCivic operates the facility under contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The facility houses nearly 1,500 federal immigration detainees, most of whom have not been convicted of a crime and are in custody awaiting hearings.

In a statement, CoreCivic said Otay Mesa officials conducted an administrative investigation into each allegation but did not conduct a criminal investigation because it is not a law enforcement agency.

But the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said it is also not investigating the cases. Under a 2020 memorandum of understanding, it ceded its authority to investigate allegations of criminal conduct to CoreCivic.

At a hearing Tuesday with the County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Kelly Martinez said her department is responsible for their own detention centers and that investigating non-county detention centers is a “difficult task.”

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Sewage pollution from the Tijuana River has led to a myriad of health problems among nearby residents, including asthma, migraines and vertigo. Especially for school children, the overwhelming smell of hydrogen sulfide sometimes means days indoors or home sick. Read more by Deborah Brennan of CalMatters.