A U.S. appeals court has ruled that thousands of lawsuits against Meta Platforms and other social media companies, alleging their products are addictive to young users, can proceed. The court rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok to dismiss the cases based on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which the court stated provides a defense to liability but not immunity from lawsuits.
This ruling comes as Meta is set to begin a trial for a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general with similar allegations of illegally collecting children's data and designing addictive platforms. This legal challenge follows a recent ruling in New Mexico where Meta was ordered to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund. These developments represent a significant and growing legal and financial threat to the company.