Inside the LA bellwether case

We start with some important business: Nilay has a flight to catch, and is very worried he won't catch it. Also, it's Apple's 50th anniversary next week, and we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best Apple products. (Head to the ad-free Vergecast feed to hear our selection show!) But mostly, this episode is about social media. In two key trials this week, juries found social platforms liable not for the content they display but for the actual structure and features of the platform. That could change the way social media companies act, and how users fight back. After that, it's time for the silliness of the router ban, the latest in the chatbot wars, and an update on what's happening with Grammarly's Expert Voices feature.

Further reading:

• ⁠Rank your top 50 Apple products ⁠

• ⁠Verge subscribers, here’s how to set up ad-free podcasts ⁠

• ⁠The TSA is broken — is privatization next? ⁠

• ⁠What is ICE actually doing at American airports? ⁠

• ⁠Meta misled users about its products’ safety, jury decides ⁠

• ⁠Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case ⁠

• ⁠Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health⁠

• ⁠What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court ⁠

• ⁠A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse ⁠

• ⁠Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement ⁠

• ⁠2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning ⁠

• ⁠The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US ⁠

• ⁠The United States router ban, explained⁠

• ⁠FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna⁠

• ⁠Cox Communications not liable for pirated music, Supreme Court rules ⁠

• ⁠Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me ⁠

• ⁠North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud. ⁠

• ⁠Apple is testing a standalone app for its overhauled Siri ⁠

• ⁠OpenAI is planning a desktop ‘superapp’ ⁠

• ⁠This is Microsoft’s plan to fix Windows 11 ⁠

• ⁠OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal⁠

• The age of piracy ended with LimeWire | Version History

⁠Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.

00:00 Intro

02:35 Airport Chaos and TSA

07:36 Apple Turns 50

09:03 Ranking Apple Products

13:59 iMac Monitor Project

19:03 Keeping the MacBook Neo

20:07 Automating Social Media Agents

23:57 Social Media Trials Begin

25:09 Inside the LA Bellwether Case

27:31 Parents React to Zuckerberg

28:10 Addictive Design Liability

29:39 Section 230 and First Amendment

32:01 Product Design Not Content

34:16 Lemmon v Snap Precedent

37:52 Public Turns on Platforms

39:20 Voting Fails Court Fights

43:55 Regulation Versus Litigation

51:39 Lightning Round 

54:16 Brendan Carr Merger Waiver

57:16 FCC Router Ban Chaos

01:02:57 Router Ban Workarounds

01:04:37 FCC Shakedown

01:08:13 AI Music Royalty Fraud

01:10:44 Bot Views Clip Wars

01:14:36 Supreme Court vs Cox

01:16:45 Chatbot Super App Race

01:21:23 People Dont Want Automation

01:24:18 Grammarly Expert Voices Fallout

01:32:43 AI Cant Replace Taste

01:35:54 Wrap Up And Plugs

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