Facebook parent company Meta must face lawsuits filed by US states
who accuse him of fueling mental health problems among teenagers by making his Facebook and Instagram platforms addictive, a federal judge in California ruled Tuesday.
Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Yvonne González Rogers denied Meta’s request to dismiss claims made by the states in two separate lawsuits filed last year, one involving more than 30 states, including California and New York. , and the other presented by Florida.
Rogers put some limits on states’ claims, agreeing with Meta that a federal law known as Section 230 that regulates online platforms partially protected the company. However, he felt that the states had presented enough details about the company’s allegedly misleading statements to move forward with most of their case.
The judge also denied motions from Meta, ByteDance, Alphabet and Snap to dismiss personal injury lawsuits filed by individual plaintiffs. The other companies are not involved in the lawsuits filed by the states.
The ruling clears the way for states and other plaintiffs to seek more evidence and possibly go to trial. It is not a final decision on the merits of your cases.
“Meta must be held accountable for the very real harm it has inflicted on children here in California and across the country,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
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Lawyers for the personal injury plaintiffs in a joint statement called the ruling “a significant victory for young people across the country who have been negatively affected by addictive and harmful social media platforms.”
A Meta spokesperson says the company disagreed with the ruling overall and had “developed numerous tools to support parents and teens,” including new “Teen Accounts” on Instagram with additional protections.
A Google spokesperson called the allegations “simply false” and said, “offering young people a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.”
The other social media companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The states are seeking injunctions against Meta’s allegedly illegal business practices and seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by various plaintiffs accusing social media companies of designing addictive algorithms that cause anxiety, depression and body image problems among teenagers, and of failing to warn about their risks.
With information from Reuters.
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