![\"Taylor](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/D92A\/production\/_131749555_taylor1_976.jpg.webp)
<\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHundreds of families are suing some of the world’s biggest technology companies – who, they say, knowingly expose children to harmful products. One plaintiff explains why they are taking on the might of Silicon Valley.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “I literally was trapped by addiction at age 12. And I did not get my life back for all of my teenage years.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor Little’s addiction was social media, an addiction that led to suicide attempts and years of depression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor, who’s now 21 and uses the pronoun “they”, describes the tech companies as “big, bad monsters”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The companies, Taylor believes, knowingly put into children’s hands highly addictive and damaging products.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Which is why Taylor and hundreds of other American families are suing four of the biggest tech companies in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The lawsuit against Meta – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – plus TikTok, Google and Snap Inc, the owner of Snapchat, is one of the largest ever mounted in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The plaintiffs include ordinary families and school districts from across the US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n They claim that the platforms are harmful by design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lawyers for the families believe the case of 14-year-old British schoolgirl Molly Russell is an important example of the potential harms faced by teenagers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/span>Russell family<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Last year they monitored the inquest into her death via video link from Washington, looking for any evidence which they could use in the US lawsuit. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Molly’s name is mentioned a dozen times in the master complaint submitted to the court in California. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Last week, the families in the case received a powerful boost when a federal judge ruled that the companies could not use the First Amendment of the US constitution, which protects freedom of speech, to block the action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Judge Gonzalez Rogers also ruled that S230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that platforms are not publishers, did not give the companies blanket protection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The judge ruled that, for example, a lack of “robust” age verification and poor parental controls, as the families argue, are not issues of freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lawyers for the families called it a “significant victory”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The companies say the claims are not true and they intend to defend themselves robustly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor, who lives in Colorado, tells us that before getting their first smartphone, they were sporty and outgoing, taking part in dance and theatre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “If I had my phone taken away, it felt like having withdrawals. It was unbearable. Literally, when I say it was addictive, I don’t mean it was habit-forming. I mean, my body and mind craved that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Taylor remembers the very first social media notification they clicked on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It was someone’s personal self-harm page, showing graphic images of wounds and cuts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “As an 11-year-old, I clicked on a page and was shown that with no warning. No, I didn’t look for it. I didn’t ask for it. I can still see it. I’m 21 years old, I can still see it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor also struggled with content around body image and eating disorders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “That was – is – like a cult. It felt like a cult. You’re constantly bombarded with photographs of a body that you can’t have without dying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “You can’t escape that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Lawyers for Taylor and the other plaintiffs have taken a novel approach to the litigation, focusing on the design of the platforms and not individual posts, comments or images.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n They claim the apps contain design features which cause addiction and harm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Meta released a statement saying: “Our thoughts are with the families represented in these complaints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we are doing to provide teens with safe, supportive experiences online.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n TikTok declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Google told us: “The allegations in these complaints are simply not true. Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And Snapchat said its platform “was designed to remove the pressure to be perfect. We vet all content before it can reach a large audience to prevent the spread of anything that could be harmful.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor knows all about the story of Molly Russell, from north-west London, who took her own life after being exposed to a stream of negative, depressing content on Instagram.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n An inquest into her death found she died “while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Taylor says their stories are very similar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “I feel incredibly lucky to have survived. And my heart breaks in ways I can’t put into words for people like Molly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “I’m happy. I really love my life. I’m in a place I didn’t think I would live to.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It makes Taylor determined to see the legal action through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “They know we’re dying. They don’t care. They make money off us dying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “All hope I have for better social media is entirely dependent on us winning and forcing them to make it – because they will never, ever, ever choose to.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Published at Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:11:44 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018I was addicted to social media – now I’m suing Big Tech\u2019 By Angus Crawford and Tony Smith BBC News Hundreds of families are suing some of the world’s biggest technology companies – who, they say, knowingly expose children to harmful products. One plaintiff explains why they are taking on the might of Silicon Valley.… Continue reading \u2018I was addicted to social media – now I’m suing Big Tech\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Harmful by design<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Molly](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/11617\/production\/_109319117_391e346c-e57a-48c9-bd82-4545c286d1dd.jpg.webp)
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‘Like withdrawals’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Taylor](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/B21A\/production\/_131749554_taylor4.jpg.webp)
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<\/picture><\/div>\n‘Simply not true’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Molly Russell<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Related Topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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