Ninth Circuit Rejects Meta and TikTok Appeals, Allows Social Media Addiction Lawsuits to Proceed

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on August 10 that thousands of lawsuits against Meta, Alphabet's Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and Snap's Snapchat may proceed. The suits allege that the companies' product designs are prone to addicting young users. The appeals court dismissed appeals filed by Meta and TikTok as premature, after a lower court ruled that the technology companies must face more than 3,000 consolidated federal lawsuits. The two companies had appealed in an attempt to overturn that ruling.

The companies had invoked Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which generally shields internet companies from liability for content posted by users. The companies argued that the provision also shields them from liability for failing to warn the public about the addictive nature of their platforms. The appeals court noted that Section 230 provides an affirmative defense to liability, not immunity from suit, making the appeals procedurally premature.

The court also denied Meta's request to delay a trial scheduled to begin August 12. That case, brought jointly by the attorneys general of 29 states, accuses Meta of illegally collecting and using children's data, designing social media platforms to foster dependence among young users, and misleading consumers about platform safety. Meta had argued that the trial should not begin while its appeal was pending, but the court rejected that position.

Earlier, a New Mexico judge found Meta to constitute a "public nuisance" in the state, ordering it to pay $567 million to a youth mental health fund and implement various youth safety measures. A Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent in product design and awarded $600 million to a woman who claimed she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube from a young age. A New Mexico jury also ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading consumers. Meta and Google have said they will appeal those rulings.

Thousands of lawsuits brought by state governments, local municipalities, schools, and individuals now accuse social media companies of deliberately inducing addiction among teenagers. The federal cases have been consolidated before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, with plaintiffs seeking damages, fines, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The companies also face hundreds of similar suits in state courts, with approximately 3,300 cases consolidated in California state court proceedings.