Judge Greenlights Lawsuits By States That Accuse Meta Of Hooking Teens On Social Media

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram must face lawsuits filed by more than 30 states that accuse the outlets of encouraging teens to get addicted to social media, a judge ruled Tuesday.

In a 102-page order, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied motions by Meta Platforms to dismiss the cases, saying the company's "design, development, and deployment of certain product features plausibly constitutes unfair or unconscionable practices under all at-issue federal and state standards."

Although Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1998 "provides a fairly significant limitation on these claims," Rogers said she would allow the states to press their "theories of liability predicated on a failure-to-warn of known risks of addiction."

The states sued Meta last year in a pair of lawsuits, one filed by 33 states led by California and the other filed by Florida. They accuse the social media giant of designing its products to "exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of kids," resulting in compulsive use that's caused anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.

The lawsuits seek unspecified damages and a court order for Meta to eliminate the allegedly dangerous features and warn that its products "are addictive and pose a clear and present danger to unsuspecting minors."

Rogers, who sits in Oakland, California, also turned down a request by Meta to toss some claims brought by individual plaintiffs over alleged social media addiction, Reuters reported.

Meta didn't immediately return a request for comment, Reuters said.

Meta stock closed Tuesday at $586.27 a share, down 0.7%.