Dr. John Chandler, assistant professor at the University of St. Thomas Department of Software Engineering and Data Science, informed jurors in two landmark cases over social media safety.
Chandler was an expert witness in marketing and data science. His marketing role was to explain to the jury how advertising works, how the social media companies make money, and to assess the extent to which they prioritized revenue growth over user safety and well-being. On the data science side, he used statistical models to estimate the revenue these platforms have made from youth during the class period.
A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube guilty in causing harm with addictive design features. The case involved a young user who said the design features were addictive and led to her mental health distress. Meta must pay $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages, and YouTube must pay $1.8 million. The landmark decision could open social media companies to more lawsuits over users’ well-being.
The jury in the New Mexico case found Meta misled consumers about the safety of its platforms as it relates to the exploitation of minors. The New York Times covered both proceedings.
"All for the common good' isn't just a motto — it's a research agenda," Chandler said. "Asking hard questions about how powerful institutions affect vulnerable people is exactly the kind of work a university should be producing. What I teach in the classroom and what I do in the courtroom are really the same thing: how do you look at data honestly, and what does it obligate you to do? That question feels especially urgent right now."
