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Is social media a defective product? Pt 1

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In the first part of a new series, Harry Lambert puts social media firms under the spotlight, asking: to what extent are they liable for harm?
  • Considers whether it is possible to sue social media companies, or whether they are protected by immunity—either contractual or statutory.
  • Examines in detail the law in relation to social media algorithms and asks if they are covered by the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.

This series evaluates the potential liability of social media companies for the harms caused by their algorithms and platform design.

This part considers whether it is possible to sue social media companies at all, or whether they are protected by contractual or statutory immunity. In part two, on the assumption that such immunity can be circumnavigated, I will consider which causes of action provide the best vehicle for such claims, against the backdrop of the wider statutory framework governing social media contained in the new Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA

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NEWS
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School and the Frenkel Topping Group—AKA The insider—crowns Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP as his case of 2025 in his latest column for NLJ. The High Court’s decision—that non-authorised employees cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision—has sent shockwaves through the profession. Regan calls it the year’s defining moment for civil practitioners and reproduces a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of key rulings from Mr Justice Sheldon
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