A U.S. appeals court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and Snap Inc's Snapchat over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users.
Lawsuits Move Forward Against Big Tech
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok seeking to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal court. The companies had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which generally shields online companies from claims over content posted by their users, also bars lawsuits claiming they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature of their platforms.
Companies Lose Bid to Delay Trial
The court also denied Meta's bid to postpone a trial beginning on Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general alleging that the company illegally collected and used children's data, designed its social media platforms to keep young users hooked, and misled consumers about their safety. The company had argued that the trial couldn't go forward while the appeal had been outstanding.
Thousands of Lawsuits Filed Against Big Tech
The cases, which have been centralized before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, seek damages, penalties, and restitution from the companies. The companies are facing hundreds of additional lawsuits over similar claims in state court, with approximately 3,300 of them in a consolidated proceeding in California state court.
Implications of the Ruling
Lexi Hazam and Previn Warren, attorneys representing thousands of school districts and individuals suing Meta and other companies in the litigation over the claims in federal court, said in a statement that the ruling would allow the states' trial to move forward, as well as a trial over claims brought by school districts scheduled for February. "A trial is how the public finds out what Meta knew about its products' impact on children, when it knew it, and what it chose to do with that knowledge," the attorneys said.
What's Next for Big Tech
The ruling comes days after a New Mexico judge found Meta had created a public nuisance in the state and ordered it to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund and implement youth-safety measures. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Representatives for TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday's ruling.
Source: Joy Online
