US court says Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat must face addiction lawsuits
A US appeals court ruled that major social media companies, including Meta, Google, and TikTok, must face lawsuits alleging their platforms are designed to be addictive to young users. The court rejected arguments that Section 230 provides immunity against these specific claims.
Why it matters
This ruling is a significant legal setback for tech giants and could set a precedent for how social media companies are held liable for the design of their algorithms.
A US appeals court has ruled that Meta Platfoms, Google, TikTok and Snapchat must face thousands of lawsuits alleging that their platforms were designed to be addictive for young users. According to a report by Reuters, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court has rejected an appeal made by Meta and TikTok in which the companies speed to to overturn a lower court’s decision which allowed more than 3,000 federal cases to proceed. The social media giants also argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which offer shields to online platforms from liability for user content should also protect them from claims that their designs encourage addiction.
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