The Rip Current with Jacob Ward

A Los Angeles jury found both Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health — $3 million in compensatory damages, another $3 million in punitive damages. It came one day after a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for enabling child exploitation on its platforms. Two verdicts in 48 hours. More than 1,600 lawsuits waiting behind them.
In this video, I break down what happened, why I consider this the equivalent of the cigarette settlements or the seat belt mandate, and how a dinner I attended while writing my book The Loop — where addiction researchers presented a how-to manual for making apps as addictive as possible — set me on a path that ends at this moment, 10 years later.
The era of unaccountable behavioral design is over. The question now is what comes next.
New episodes and full written analysis every week at TheRipCurrent.com — subscribe for free or become a paid member for the full investigation layer.
My book, The Loop, lays out the framework behind all of this: https://www.amazon.com/Loop-Creating-World-Without-Choices/dp/031648718X/

A Los Angeles jury found both Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health — $3 million in compensatory damages, with punitive damages still to come. It came one day after a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for enabling child exploitation on its platforms. Two verdicts in 48 hours. More than 1,600 lawsuits waiting behind them.
In this episode, I break down what happened, why I consider this the equivalent of the cigarette settlements or the seat belt mandate, and how a dinner I attended while writing my book The Loop — where addiction researchers presented a how-to manual for making apps as addictive as possible — connects directly to what this jury just decided.
The era of unaccountable behavioral design is over. The question now is what comes next.New episodes and full written analysis every week at TheRipCurrent.com — subscribe for free or become a paid member for the full investigation layer.
My book, The Loop, lays out the framework behind everything we just witnessed: https://www.amazon.com/Loop-Creating-World-Without-Choices/dp/031648718X/

Two juries are deliberating right now — one in Los Angeles, one in Santa Fe — and between them they may fundamentally change what the American legal system considers harm. The LA case asks whether Meta and YouTube designed addictive products that damaged a young woman's mental health. The Santa Fe case accuses Meta of enabling child sexual exploitation and is seeking more than $2 billion. If either jury finds for the plaintiffs, it could set the per-user cost that gets applied across more than 1,600 pending lawsuits — and establish that behavioral harm through product design is something American courts can and will punish.I also discuss COPPA 2.0, the child privacy bill that just passed the Senate unanimously, and why I think the courts — not Congress — are going to be the institution that strikes the balance between an open internet and a safe one.
Subscribe on Substack for the full written analysis and early, exclusive content: https://www.theripcurrent.com
My book, The Loop, lays out how AI and platform design narrow the choices available to us before we ever decide: https://www.amazon.com/Loop-Creating-World-Without-Choices/dp/031648718X/

A New Mexico jury just found Meta liable for endangering children on its platforms — $375 million in civil penalties. The jury deliberated for less than a day.
This is the first social media case to reach a verdict. Behind it sit more than 1,600 lawsuits waiting for exactly this signal.
A separate jury in Los Angeles is still deliberating over whether Meta and YouTube designed addictive platforms that harmed a young woman's mental health. That verdict could come any day.
I've been covering both cases — including an on-the-record interview with New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez, who brought the suit. Full, free breakdown — including a detailed history of the case — at TheRipCurrent.com.

Val Kilmer died in 2025 — but he's appearing in a new film anyway, resurrected by AI with his family's blessing. The story of how it happened is surprisingly moving. The story of what it means for everyone who isn't already famous is a lot darker.Matthew McConaughey told a room full of desperate drama students to "trademark themselves." Ben Affleck just sold his AI post-production company to Netflix for $600 million. These are people giving advice from inside the castle to people standing outside the walls. I want to talk about who actually gets left behind — and why the most sympathetic use of a technology is almost always the one they show you first.Paid subscribers get videos first, written transcripts, and full analysis pieces at TheRipCurrent.com