East Coast Radio hosted a compelling discussion featuring Pather & Pather Attorneys’ Senior Litigation Attorney Edward Abraham, unpacking a landmark legal development in the United States.
Listen to full interview live here
At the center of the conversation was a recent ruling in which Meta and YouTube were found liable for the design of their platforms, which allegedly contributed to social media addiction and subsequent mental health harm suffered by a young user.
“From a South African perspective, two issues arise.
Jurisdiction and liability. On the question of jurisdiction, now, our courts can hear a matter if there’s sufficient connection to South Africa. That includes where the harm is suffered.
But you would have to found jurisdiction. On the question of liability, we do not have the exact equivalent to Section 230. But under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, platforms have a limited protection for third-party content, provided they act when they are notified.
The claim here would be based on the common law of delict. A claimant must prove wrongfulness, fault, causation, and harm. That remains a high threshold, especially in cases involving mental health.
And our courts would require a clear and direct causal link, not just a contributing factor as accepted in the United States. For children, laws like the Children’s Act and Protection of Personal Information Act strengthen the arguments around the duty of care. But this is bigger than just one case.
What happens in the United States will have global consequences. If courts dare force changes on how platforms are designed or regulated, those changes will flow across the entire global systems of Meta and YouTube. That means the way these apps function, the features they offer, and how they engage users could change worldwide, including here in South Africa.
And alongside that, I think governments around the world are already responding to these aspects. In Australia, there are moves to restrict access for children under the age of 16. In Europe and United Kingdom, regulators are targeting addictive design features.
And in China, for example, platforms like Facebook and Instagram are restricted and largely inaccessible with tight state control over digital platforms. So this is not just a United States case. Courts and governments around the world are asking one question.
Are these platforms simply tools or are they products designed in a way that can cause harm? And for us in South Africa, I believe it’s not a question of if change is coming, but when it reaches us.”
– sourced from transcript of live interview with East Coast Radio hosts, Danny and Zisto.
