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

A US appeals court has cleared the way for thousands of lawsuits against major social media companies to proceed. The suits allege that platforms like Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Google's YouTube, and ByteDance's TikTok were deliberately designed to be addictive to young users.

The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies' attempt to overturn a lower court's decision that allowed the litigation to move forward. The court determined that the appeal was filed prematurely, as most appeals are only permitted after a case has concluded.

The tech companies had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally protects online platforms from liability for user-generated content, also shielded them from claims that they failed to warn the public about their products' addictive nature. However, the appeals court clarified that Section 230 provides a defense against liability, not immunity from lawsuits themselves.

The court also denied Meta's request to delay a separate trial scheduled to begin Wednesday. That case, brought by 29 state attorneys general, accuses Meta of illegally collecting children's data and designing its platforms to keep young users hooked while misleading consumers about safety.

The broader litigation, which includes more than 3,000 federal lawsuits filed by states, municipalities, school districts, and individuals, is consolidated before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. The plaintiffs seek damages, penalties, and restitution, alleging that the companies contributed to a mental health crisis among American youth.

The ruling comes after several notable courtroom defeats for the tech industry. In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent in a case brought by a young woman who became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child, awarding her $6 million. Additionally, Meta lost a landmark lawsuit in New Mexico, where a jury ordered it to pay $375 million, and a judge later added $567 million in penalties and mandated youth-safety measures. Both Meta and Google have denied the claims and stated they will appeal those verdicts.