As thousands of lawsuits proceed against social media companies for alleged harm, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the seven main arguments for holding social media companies legally responsible.

Findings

Additional insights we found via After Babel

Haidt concludes that social media platforms are not safe for teens because, he writes, they were intentionally designed to attract young people and maximize their use even as company researchers and leadership had data indicating that youth users would suffer mental health harms.
Even light social media use for young people exposes them to harmful content such as sextortion and the possibility of drug purchases, he claims.
Natural experiments and organized research, Haidt claims, indicate harm from social media use. Mark Zuckerberg, however, has asserted that such evidence is an association, not proving causation, and that more heavy users may be depressed, but that doesn't mean social media caused that condition.