US Appeals Court Allows Thousands of Social Media Addiction Lawsuits to Proceed

A US appeals court has allowed thousands of lawsuits against major social media companies to move forward. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and other defendants' bid to reverse a lower court's ruling forcing them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users.

The San Francisco-based appeals court concluded that the appeal came too early in the litigation. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 shields online companies from claims over content posted by their users, but it provides a defense to liability, not immunity from lawsuits, according to the court.

Meta had argued that Section 230 provided it broad immunity and that it should be able to appeal the lower court's decision immediately. However, the appeals court said Meta's bid was premature. The court also denied Meta's request to postpone a trial beginning this week in a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general alleging that the company illegally collected and used children's data.

The lawsuits, filed by states, municipalities, school districts, and individuals, allege that social media companies intentionally addicted young users, contributing to surging depression, anxiety, and body-image issues. A Los Angeles jury in March found Meta and Google negligent for designing social media platforms that harm young people and awarded $6 million to a now-20-year-old woman who says she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child.