What does it mean that Meta and YouTube lost in court

Social media companies have long seemed impervious to legal threats. Meta, YouTube, Snap, and others have long waved off criticism of their platforms on free speech and Section 230 grounds. But Twice this weekjury presented Judgments against platformsNot because of some bad videos but because of the design and structure of the platforms themselves. This might change some things.

on This episode of vertcastDavid and Nilay look at this week’s rulings, the new legal approaches that led to them, and whether these cases (and… Others are on trial this year) could actually change the way social media works. We’re also trying to figure out whether this is a great day to regulate important platforms, as some people think, or a complete disaster and assault on free speech, as others think. Maybe it’s somewhere in between. Maybe it is both.

All this social media talk comes after some important housekeeping. First: Nilay has a flight he wants to catch, and he’s afraid to miss it Standing in the TSA line. (Update: It worked. Go see it at American Bar Association Art Exhibition In Chicago this weekend!) It’s also the start of our Apple 50 coverage, and we need your help to discover the 50 best Apple products of all time. By the way, if you want to hear us spend a few hours discussing which products to include, there’s a special episode on the ad-free channel vertcast Feed exclusively for subscribers. Go subscribe!

If you want to learn more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started: