LRC continually monitors and tracks the trends in litigation, and we anticipate the following to continue in 2025.
U.S. Supreme Court’s Overruling of Chevron Will Undoubtedly Impact Cases Against Federal Agencies
In the June 28, 2024 decision of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court eliminated a forty-year deference given to federal agencies to interpret relevant legislation and regulation. This will likely have a lasting impact on federal agencies, specifically environment, healthcare, and cybersecurity. Instead of agencies interpreting the laws and regulations applicable to them, courts will be responsible for interpreting any vague or ambiguous laws. Agencies are now on a tight leash, which will likely lead to less overreach from agencies.
One immediate consequence of the decision is the remand of pending appellate matters to district courts for reconsideration in light of Loper. States have been grappling with this over the past several months with differing results. Some states have already struck down agency rules, which others have acknowledged the change but not actually utilized it. It will likely take years before we see the full effects of Loper.
The Sixth Circuit in Ohio Telecom Ass’n v. FCC did conclude its own statutory interpretation instead of the FCC’s prior inconsistent interpretations. The Court held that broadband services are information services, rather than telecommunication services, and that mobile broadband services are private mobile services and not subject to common carrier regulations.
As mentioned above, it will take some time to determine any consistency and applicable precedence. We may also see inconsistency in how different courts interpret agency laws and regulations.
“Forever Chemicals” Litigation Continues to Grow
We are continuing to see a rise in litigation against chemical manufacturers, specifically regarding PFAS and PFOA (“forever chemicals”).
In 2023, 3M agreed upon a $10 billion settlement with municipalities and water providers to clean up contaminated water supplies. Since then, several states and various other plaintiffs have continued to seek relief for alleged damages caused by these materials.
Because scientists have yet to determine how long it takes for these chemicals to break down, the majority of water tests and human blood tests reveal presence of these chemicals, leading to allegations of links between the chemicals and various cancers and other diseases. The EPA has recently issued requirements for the removal of some PFAS contaminants from water. Because of these concerns, litigation will likely rise in the coming year(s).
Social Media Sites May Be Held Legally Responsible for the Harms Caused to Users
Immunity under the Communications Decency Act
Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act, provides that “[n]o provider … of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” The CDA’s grant of immunity is applied when defendants meet certain criteria. Plaintiffs have repeatedly tried to hold social media sites responsible for the actions of their users, but the actions have been dismissed based upon Section 230 immunity.
Interestingly, however, in August of 2024, the Third Circuit held in Anderson v. TikTok, Inc., TikTok’s own algorithm that recommended videos on users’ “For You Page” (“FYP”) constituted first-person speech such that it could not be immune from liability. TikTok was no longer considered merely a publisher of another’s content, but it had created its own expression by formulating the FYP’s videos. The case was remanded to the District Court after the ruling. TikTok has not sought further review, however we may see other plaintiffs using this ruling in their favor.
Harms of Social Media
There are many recognized harms of social media use, including addiction, anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia/eating disorders, insomnia, migraines and multiple other issues. The Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL has identified nearly 1,000 claims as of the beginning of this year for these types of concerns, among others.
Usage of AI has also sparked increasing concern that will likely extend to more litigation. For example, Character.AI, a chatbot service, has been under fire recently for exposing young children to hypersexualized content and violent ideas. This website has companion chatbots who can chat with the user. Some of the allegations include the AI chatbots wrote about children killing their parents and about how self-harm felt good.
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