(Bloomberg) — Mark Zuckerberg will avoid personal liability in 20 lawsuits accusing Meta Platforms Inc. and other social media companies of poisoning children with their products. It is said that
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg
Meta’s chief executive made the argument Friday at a hearing in federal court in California, but a judge did not immediately issue a ruling. A ruling in Mr. Zuckerberg’s favor would remove him as an individual defendant in the lawsuit without affecting the claims against Mr. Mehta.
Holding him personally accountable may be difficult due to the tradition of corporate law that protects executives from liability, especially at large companies where decision-making is often multilayered. The loss for the billionaire, who started Facebook with friends as a Harvard undergraduate 20 years ago, could fuel major personal injury lawsuits against other CEOs.
Zuckerberg faces allegations from young people and parents that he ignored the findings of the study and chose not to publicize it despite repeated warnings that Instagram and Facebook were not safe for children. are doing.
The lawsuit naming Mr. Zuckerberg is part of more than 1,000 lawsuits filed in state and federal courts by families and public school districts against Meta, along with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok and Snap Inc. It is. Oakland Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the federal case, recently granted some claims against the companies and dismissed others.
The plaintiffs argue that as the face of Meta, Zuckerberg has a responsibility to “tell the story fully and truthfully about the risks that Meta’s platform poses to children’s health.”
“With great power comes great responsibility,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a court filing, quoting the Spider-Man comic in a footnote. “Unfortunately, Mr. Zuckerberg did not live up to that maxim.”
Zuckerberg, the world’s fourth richest person, argued that just because he is CEO, he cannot be held personally responsible for Meta’s actions. His lawyers also argue that Zuckerberg had no obligation to disclose the findings of the alleged safety findings.
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement: “There is ample case law to demonstrate that being a top executive does not confer liability for a company’s alleged actions,” and that the claims against Mr. Zuckerberg should be dismissed in their entirety. He added.
During the hearing, Mr. Rogers pressed the plaintiffs on whether Mr. Zuckerberg was required to disclose safety information unless he had a “special relationship” with the users of his products. The plaintiffs had argued that Meta’s CEO had a responsibility to Facebook and Instagram users given his “outsized role within the company,” but Rogers said there was no specific law supporting the plaintiffs’ claims. An objection was raised to show that.
Mr. Rogers was more sympathetic to the plaintiffs’ argument that Mr. Zuckerberg could be held liable for personally withholding information as an executive officer of Meta, and he spoke to Mr. Zuckerberg’s lawyers. However, he asked how Meta could avoid potential personal liability if it understood it had an obligation to disclose safety information itself.
The judge also consulted with lawyers about how state-specific laws governing corporate officer liability apply to Mr. Zuckerberg.
When you can’t stop scrolling: Social media lawsuits pile up
Zuckerberg, who remains Meta’s most important shareholder and the company’s only voting power, is facing a separate 2022 lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal brought by the attorney general of the District of Columbia in Washington. But they are at risk of being held personally liable. .
Attributing responsibility for misconduct to an executive typically depends on whether the executive is involved in relevant day-to-day decisions or demonstrates knowledge of the practices at issue. In small businesses, it is generally easier to assign management responsibilities and it is more obvious that individuals participate directly in decision-making. In large companies, responsibility comes down to proving control over decision-making.
Social media companies are under increasing scrutiny for their impact on young people’s mental health and their role in spreading sexually explicit content. At a Senate hearing last month, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley pressed Zuckerberg on whether he should personally compensate victims of online sexual exploitation. Zuckerberg then issued an unusual apology to the victims’ families.
The case, Social Media Juvenile Addiction/Personal Injury Product Liability Litigation, 22-md-03047, is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Oakland).
–With assistance from Andrea Vittorio and Kurt Wagner.
(Updates with meta comment.)
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg LP