The Media Leader Podcast
In March, Meta and Google were found by a Los Angeles jury to have deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive in a way that was demonstrably harmful to a 20-year-old woman known as Kaley.
TikTok and Snap were also previously defendants in the case before agreeing to a settlement ahead of trial. Meta and Google intend to appeal the decision.
The news came as political leaders around the world, including here in the UK, have implemented or are considering implementing a ban on social media access for those under 16.
It also came after Meta lost a separate trial that found the tech giant misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. Meta has come under further scrutiny for admitting it earned billions in revenue from fraudulent ads.
This confluence of events has led to a slow-motion reckoning for the advertising industry, which provides ever-growing revenue to these Big Tech companies even as juries find them intentionally addicting users, causing real-world harms.
Amid the public furore and continued legal backlash, how should business leaders in media and advertising react?
Jess Butcher is the founder of ScrollAware, a not-for-profit that aims to convene business leaders to raise awareness of and solutions to online harms.
Butcher, a former tech entrepreneur, sits down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss the business community’s response to the verdict in the social media addiction trial.
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Thanks to our production partners, Trisonic, for editing this episode. Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience.
Highlights
9:27: The online safety debate: The harms of “ultraprocessed content” versus concerns of moral panic
22:35: ScrollAware’s mission as a “convenor of conversation” about responsibility in the attention economy.
28:44: Why brand managers feel “powerless” in challenging tech platforms – and why they shouldn’t
37:00: The collective action problem in the long tail
41:17: Policy changes to be considered
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