In 2023, Epic Games, the software studio behind the enormously popular video game "Fortnite"€ was sued in several jurisdictions for making its game too addictive. Snapchat was sued in the United States after a traffic collision for allegedly encouraging its users to earn a "badge" by driving at excessive speeds. In response to new technologies, tort law developed means for dealing with invasions of privacy. The tort of defamation has had to adjust itself to the new reality of social media publishing, and more recently to the possibility that chatbots may be sued for defamation.

The course will start by considering the impact of technology on our lives; it will then turn to the question of the interrelationship between technological change and legal (especially tort) doctrine: how technological change influenced doctrine and whether doctrine can affect technological change. The main bulk of the course will be devoted to examining issues in products liability, addiction, harassment, defamation, and invasion of privacy, to examine the possibilities, but also the limitations, of using tort law for dealing with them.