US Court Paves Way for Thousands of Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

A US appeals court has cleared the way for thousands of lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snap to proceed, rejecting their attempt to use federal internet protections to halt litigation over alleged social media addiction among young users.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Meta and TikTok had appealed prematurely after a lower court declined to dismiss more than 3,000 federal cases. The lawsuits allege that the companies designed their platforms in ways that encouraged excessive use among children and teenagers.

At the centre of the dispute is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that generally protects online platforms from liability for content posted by their users. Meta and TikTok argued that the protection should also prevent lawsuits accusing them of failing to warn users about the potentially addictive characteristics of their products.

The appeals court determined that the companies could not challenge the lower court's decision at this stage, holding that Section 230 operates as a defence against liability rather than providing blanket immunity from having to face a lawsuit.