Meta must face lawsuits saying it profited from youth social media addiction

A California federal judge has ruled that Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) must face lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of 34 states that accused the company of profiting from young people’s addiction to social media.

Meta, which was seeking a dismissal of the case that was filed in October 2023, runs Facebook and Instagram. YouTube, owned by Google (GOOG)(GOOGL), and TikTok and Snap, owned by ByteDance (BDNCE) are also named in the cases, as is Snapchat.

The attorneys general allege that although social media use is linked to depression and other mental health conditions, companies that operate the platforms won’t make changes that would eliminate capabilities known to have a negative impact on youths.

Further, the suits argue that social networks are not being honest about safety tools for youngsters and employ features to keep children online longer to boost the bottom line.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote that “Meta’s alleged years long public campaign of deception” on the risks of social media addiction and potential mental health impacts might violate both federal and state laws on deceptive and unfair business practices.

At the same time, she cautioned that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides immunity to online services for third-party content posted on its platforms, “provides a fairly significant limitation on these claims.”

As a result, “this order allows claims to proceed but limits the scope, and therefore the motions to dismiss are generally denied,” Rogers wrote.

The case is State of California v. Meta Platforms Inc., 4:23-cv-05448, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.