Project Liberty

So, are we at a tipping point? Tipping points are visible in hindsight. Kingdon’s framework suggests it takes more than one lawsuit or law to usher in an era of accountability.....but ▫️A jury verdict that pierced Section 230 ▫️A novel legal strategy ▫️Validated 1000s+ of lawsuits waiting all indicate .....We just haven't seen this before. It goes beyond social media regulation. It could be impactful for AI as well. Subscribe to stay informed: projectlibertynewsletter.substack.com

Here's what makes KGM v. Meta different: 1⃣ Jury trial The case is the first major social media addiction trial were a jury found Meta and YouTube liable (TikTok and Snap both settled). 2⃣ Novel legal approach via product liability Big Tech relied on immunity from Sec. 230 of the Communications Decency Act ['96] to shield themselves from liability. But KGM v. Meta et al. used product liability—claiming that the products’ design can cause personal injury. 3⃣ Series of test cases The verdict could shape the outcome of thousands of pending lawsuits from families, school districts, and state attorneys general against social media companies. 4⃣ Collective Victory A wide coalition of organizations, activists, parents, and young people worked together to bring the case with the greatest chance at winning. It showed that a victory was possible.

John Kingdon, a political science professor @UMich , published: "Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies" [1984] on how issues get on lawmakers’ agendas and how some ideas succeed in becoming policy and others don’t—in essence, what leads to policy tipping points. Kingdon concludes, policy change can occur when three “streams of influence” converge in a policy window. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_…

Is this the tipping point? It’s a question we’ve been circling for years, and still the question remained open: when will Big Tech be held accountable for designing products it knew were harming kids? Last week, a California jury might have answered it. It found Meta and YouTube legally liable for harming a young woman through addictive product design. This is the first verdict of its kind. Let;s understand why this case may be the moment that changes everything🪡 nytimes.com/2026/03/25/tec…

A California jury found Meta and YouTube “negligent for designing addictive social media platforms that harmed a child.” This landmark case sets a precedent for a long-overdue shift in how we hold technology companies accountable for the real-world consequences of their design choices. This verdict recognizes that product design carries responsibility. When companies knowingly optimize for compulsion while downplaying risk, there are real-world impacts. Courts have historically stepped in at similar inflection points with addictive substances like tobacco, alcohol, and narcotics. This case signals a comparable moment for Big Tech. We’d like to recognize the work of impactful organizations within the Project Liberty Alliance and beyond that are advocating for well-being and human rights in the digital age: @SocMediaVLC, @heatinitiative, @ptogetheraction, @SustainableFwd, @childrenscreens, @DesignItForUs, @logoff_movement, @EncodeAction, @_HumanChange, @ncypalliance, @rethinkwords, @JonHaidt of The Anxious Generation, & Tech Justice Law Project [techjusticelaw.org]

20/ Thanks for reading! 🗽 Last week’s newsletter on AI’s current impact on jobs tinyurl.com/5fnss5w8 This week’s newsletter on AI’s future impact on jobs: tinyurl.com/4bd6ekc2 Join the fight to build a better internet: projectliberty.io

19/ Read how Japan's Team Mirai party won 11 parliamentary seats by using AI for democracy – collecting voter feedback, building transparent policy, and running gamified volunteer mobilization. ☑️ tinyurl.com/2s86ww3a

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Our newsletter last week and this week explored the much-feared AI jobs crisis – and everything we know about AI’s impact on the labor market. Scroll down for more! And here are Issues 39+40 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇