Plaintiffs accuse social media companies of promoting mental health problems among young people. In addition to Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat are also affected.
In the fight against the negative effects of social media on young people, the technology group Meta is facing a series of lawsuits. A federal judge in California on Tuesday rejected Facebook‘s parent company’s request to dismiss lawsuits filed by several US states.
The plaintiffs accuse Meta of promoting mental health problems among young people through the addictive potential of its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
“Victory for young people across the country”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys called the decision an “important victory for young people across the country who are negatively impacted by addictive and harmful social media platforms.”
Instagram: “Accounts for young people”
Meta was dissatisfied with the verdict. A spokesperson for the company said Meta disagreed with the decision overall and had “developed numerous tools to support parents and teens,” including new “teen accounts” on Instagram with additional protections.
TikTok and Snapchat affected
The decision paves the way for further legal action by the plaintiffs. The judge also rejected requests from Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok, Google parent Alphabet’s YouTube and Snapchat to dismiss related personal injury lawsuits filed by individuals.
Google reacts
A Google spokesperson denied the allegations, saying: “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been at the core of our work.” The other social media companies did not initially respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency.
