Joseph McNally Discusses Meta Public Nuisance Ruling and Social Media Liability With Daily Journal
Daily Journal interviewed Joseph McNally about the upcoming Oakland trial against social media giant Meta, following a $567 million damages award stemming from a landmark New Mexico ruling. A trial judge ruled that the company’s products were designed to be addictive and that they constituted a public nuisance.
McNally added that the decision could struggle to survive on appeal because appellate courts are skeptical of public nuisance claims. He also noted common ground among the New Mexico case, the upcoming Oakland trial, and a $6 million verdict against Meta in March, namely that the plaintiffs have strong evidence that Meta has long known its product can harm children and hasn’t taken basic steps to mitigate that harm.
“The law is far from settled that a nuisance action can be used to address harm to private individuals from a private company’s product. Many appellate courts are skeptical that nuisance is a viable theory to address consumer harm,” McNally said to the Daily Journal.
Read the Daily Journal article here.
