The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, has come under legal scrutiny in the US over allegations that its social media platforms are dangerous to the mental health of teenagers because they are too addictive.
A federal court in California has now refused Meta’s request to dismiss two lawsuits filed last year.
Both lawsuits, backed by more than 30 US states, accuse Meta of exploiting young users through addictive algorithms, raising concerns about the impact on mental and physical health.
It’s not a completely black-and-white case — while the judge ruled that Meta would fall under Section 230, a federal law regulating online platforms, which in this case would protect the company from certain claims, she noted that the states had filed enough evidence regarding misleading statements, which could allow much of the case to proceed.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta noted, “Meta must be held accountable for the very real harm she has caused to children here in California and across the country.”
Meta has said it disagrees with the ruling and says it has developed tools to support parents and teens, including teen accounts on Instagram with additional protections.
The ruling also has consequences for other social media giants. Meta, along with TikTok, Snapchat and Google-owned YouTube, attempted to dismiss related personal injury lawsuits brought by individual plaintiffs, but the judge has since dismissed their claims, meaning those claims could also be dismissed continued.
This is what a Meta spokesperson said Ny Breaking in an email:
“While we welcome the Court’s decision to narrow the focus of some claims, consistent with previous rulings on Section 230, we disagree with the overall ruling. We’ve built countless tools to support parents and teens, and we recently announced that we’re significantly changing the Instagram experience for tens of millions of teens with new Teen Accounts, a protected experience for teens that automatically limits who can contact them and the content that they see. We believe the evidence will demonstrate our commitment to supporting young people.
José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, told us:
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been at the heart of our work. Working with experts in youth, mental health and parenting, we have developed services and policies to provide age-appropriate experiences for young people and robust controls for parents. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”
TikTok and Snapchat did not immediately respond.
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