Ep. 267: Social media = cigarettes?

Episode 267 of the So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast podcast, hosted by FIRE, titled "Ep. 267: Social media = cigarettes?" was published on April 1, 2026 and runs 59 minutes.

April 1, 2026 ·59m · So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

0:00 / 0:00

Episode Description

In March, juries in California and New Mexico delivered seminal verdicts holding Meta and YouTube liable for failing to protect young users from harm.

Both verdicts found that the companies were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms and that each company knew their platforms could be dangerous when used by a minor.

The courts found that the design elements of the platforms could be separated from the content hosted on the platforms, thus removing the need to consider the First Amendment or Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Joining us to break down the rulings and their possible free speech implications is Mike Masnick, CEO & founder of Techdirt & the Copia Institute.

Masnick is the author of "Everyone Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should Understand What They're Actually Cheering For."

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:29 Why these verdicts scare the hell out of Mike

10:34 Are social media algorithms "addictive"?

21:45 Did Meta fail to protect kids?

30:37 The First Amendment and Section 230

43:13 Is social media the new Big Tobacco?

55:15 The role of parents in social media use

59:04: Outro

Read the transcript here.

Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more.

If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].