A federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, must face lawsuits from multiple U.S. states accusing the company of contributing to mental health issues among teenagers by creating addictive platforms.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, based in Oakland, dismissed Meta’s attempts to eliminate the claims filed by two groups of states last year: one encompassing over 30 states, including California and New York, and another led by Florida. While Rogers acknowledged that a federal law, known as Section 230, provides some protection to online platforms, she determined that the states had sufficiently detailed their claims regarding allegedly misleading statements made by Meta, allowing most of the case to proceed.
Additionally, the judge rejected motions from Meta, TikTok (owned by ByteDance), Google’s YouTube, and Snap’s Snapchat to dismiss related personal injury lawsuits from individual plaintiffs. Notably, the other companies are not involved in the states’ lawsuits.
This ruling permits the states and other plaintiffs to gather further evidence and potentially bring their cases to trial, although it does not constitute a final judgment on the merits of the allegations.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta expressed his satisfaction with the ruling, stating, “Meta needs to be held accountable for the very real harm it has inflicted on children here in California and across the country.”
In a joint statement, lawyers representing the personal injury plaintiffs described the decision as “a significant victory for young people nationwide who have been negatively impacted by addictive and harmful social media platforms.”
A spokesperson for Meta voiced the company’s disagreement with the ruling, asserting that it has developed numerous tools to support parents and teenagers, including the introduction of “Teen Accounts” on Instagram with enhanced protections.
Meanwhile, a Google representative characterized the allegations as “simply not true,” emphasizing that providing a safer and healthier experience for young users has always been central to their efforts.
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