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NLJ this week: Fear, disgust & liability in the age of TikTok & Insta

18 April 2025
Issue: 8113 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Health & safety , Personal injury , Social Media
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Could social media firms be sued for harm caused to users? In the first of a three-part NLJ series on social media firms, Harry Lambert, Outer Temple Chambers, looks through ‘the lens of product liability, essentially posing the question: can social media platforms be conceptualised as defective products?’

Are TikTok, Twitter and other platforms protected by immunity? How does the law apply to social media algorithms? Lambert looks at the contracts and sets out his argument.

As he writes, ‘neuroscientific research shows beyond dispute that outrage, disgust, sex, fear and disgust will keep you hooked in a way that cat videos won’t. And the more time you spend online, the more money Big Tech makes’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Winckworth Sherwood—Tim Foley

Winckworth Sherwood—Tim Foley

Property litigation practice strengthened by partner hire

Kingsley Napley—Romilly Holland

Kingsley Napley—Romilly Holland

International arbitration team specialist joins the team

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Set creates new client and business development role amid growth

NEWS
Property lawyers have given a cautious welcome to the government’s landmark Bill capping ground rents at £250, banning new leasehold properties and making it easier for leaseholders to switch to commonhold
Four Nightingale courts are to be made permanent, as justice ministers continue to grapple with the record-level Crown Court backlog
The judiciary has set itself a trio of objectives and a trio of focus areas for the next five years, in its Judicial Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2026-2030

The Sentencing Act 2026 received royal assent last week, bringing into law the recommendations of David Gauke’s May 2025 Independent Sentencing Review

Victims of crime are to be given free access to transcripts of Crown Court sentencing remarks, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed
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