header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

NLJ this week: Platforms on trial—can social media be a defective product?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
04 July 2025
Issue: 8123 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Social Media , Liability , Consumer , Personal injury
printer mail-detail
224731
Could social media platforms be treated as ‘products’ under the Consumer Protection Act 1987? If so, they could face strict liability for harms caused by addictive design features and algorithmic manipulation, says Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers, writing in NLJ this week

Lambert argues that platforms are not mere conduits of ‘pure information’ but engineered environments with foreseeable risks—especially to children.

Drawing on case law, EU directives and the Online Safety Act 2023, he contends that social media’s design choices—like infinite scrolling or failure to remove harmful content—may breach duties in tort and contract. He highlights internal documents from US litigation showing tech firms knew of the risks but prioritised engagement.

With mounting evidence of harm and legal gaps, Lambert calls for courts to treat social media like any other potentially dangerous product—because the stakes, he warns, are nothing less than the mental health of a generation.

Issue: 8123 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Social Media , Liability , Consumer , Personal injury
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES
 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll