Meta titan Mark Zuckerberg will appear in court on February 23rd to try to avoid personal liability in dozens of lawsuits, according to Bloomberg. This is despite the fact that Mehta has been directly named in numerous lawsuits accusing him of getting children addicted to platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
If Mr. Zuckerberg can convince a judge to dismiss his personal lawsuit, the claims and lawsuit against Mr. Mehta will continue to be upheld. This is important because it could set a precedent in terms of holding tech giants accountable. As the New York Post pointed out, “If U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decides to hold Mr. Zuckerberg personally liable in the lawsuit, the decision could leave the tech giant’s CEO liable in a mass injury case. “The lawsuit could serve as a model for other social media users seeking to incriminate themselves.” “
The Mehta spokesperson also said that a wealth of precedent shows that just because you’re on the board of a company, you don’t automatically become liable for the company’s broader actions. This is because decision-making in such companies is typically highly hierarchical and involves multiple parties. The spokesperson also noted that these claims do not clearly indicate whether Mr. Zuckerberg breached any legal obligations, and therefore the lawsuit should be dismissed outright.
To decide the issue, Judge Gonzalez Rogers asked both sides to share how the current laws covering negligent misrepresentation and CEO liability differ in each U.S. state. Plaintiffs’ lawyers argue in the lawsuit that as Meta’s CEO, Zuckerberg has a responsibility to “tell the full and truthful story about the risks that Meta’s platform poses to children’s health.”
“With great power comes great responsibility,” the lawyers added. “Unfortunately, Mr. Zuckerberg did not live up to that maxim.”
Featured image: Created by Midjourney
