Victims in the Age of Perfection: The Social Media Pandemic

2026-04-02

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When a California court ruled that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed addictive products, many declared that this might be the Big Tobacco moment for the tech companies.The plaintiff was awarded $6 million damages. Meta’s revenue in three months last year was 60 billion dollars. Their share price was unaffected.On Free State today we ask what will it take to make a difference? If the social media companies are relaxed about the finding, is it because they know that there is no appetite to m...

When a California court ruled that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed addictive products, many declared that this might be the Big Tobacco moment for the tech companies.

The plaintiff was awarded $6 million damages. Meta’s revenue in three months last year was 60 billion dollars. Their share price was unaffected.

On Free State today we ask what will it take to make a difference?

If the social media companies are relaxed about the finding, is it because they know that there is no appetite to make real change?

We look at the power of the addiction and the power Big Tech utilises to enforce its position.

These powers rule the world now and one ruling may not make much difference.

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