U.S. appeals court allows thousands of lawsuits against social media companies over user addiction claims to proceed
A U.S. appeals court has ruled that thousands of lawsuits against major social media companies regarding youth addiction can proceed. The court rejected the companies' attempts to use Section 230 immunity to dismiss the cases early.
Why it matters
This ruling sets a significant legal precedent for how tech platforms can be held accountable for the design and psychological impact of their products on minors.
A U.S. appeals court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta Platforms , Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok and Snap Inc.’s Snapchat over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok seeking to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal court, saying the companies had appealed too early.
The companies had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 — which generally shields online companies from claims over content posted by their users — also bars lawsuits claiming they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature of their platforms.
Most appeals come after a case has concluded with a ruling or a verdict.
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