2026 International Symposium

This ICPHSO panel examines how the EU Product Liability Directive (EU 2024/2853) reshapes manufacturer obligations for digital products, including social media, gaming, and AI systems. The Directive broadens the concept of a “product” to include software and recognizes psychological and behavioral harm as relevant to defectiveness, emphasizing that warnings alone cannot render a product safe. The session explores how specific design features may contribute to dependency-related behaviors, particularly among adolescents, and how such risks may be framed in litigation as foreseeable and design-driven. The panel highlights the role of human factors methods in identifying and assessing these risks, linking scientific evidence on digital use patterns to product design decisions. It also addresses emerging litigation theories, evidentiary considerations, and how companies can develop defensible hazard assessment frameworks to evaluate risk, document design intent, and align safety practices with evolving legal expectations.