Assaulting the Citadel of Section 230 Immunity: Products Liability, Social Media, and the Youth Mental Health Crisis

The exponential rise in social media use among minors since 2008 is responsible for a precipitous increase in youth mental health injuries and suicides. These harms result from the design of social media platforms which elevate maximizing user engagement over providing minors with a safe online experience, yet social media companies benefit from broad construction of § 230 immunity to evade liability. Courts’ expansive interpretation of § 230 is historically analogous to the application of the privity doctrine in the 19th century to shield manufacturers from liability for designing dangerously defective products. The demise of the privity doctrine and rise of strict product liability in the mid-20th century ameliorated the social costs of the Industrial Revolution by placing the duty of safe design on product manufacturers which resulted in safer consumer goods.

Today, application of strict products liability principles to social media platforms will incentivize companies to design safer online platforms by internalizing the costs of safety within the cost of production and help reverse the mental health crisis ravaging American youth.