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Meta, TikTok lose bid to dismiss thousands of social media addiction lawsuits
Fox Business • • nation
Key Points:
- The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to dismiss over 3,000 lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat, allowing claims that the platforms were designed to be addictive to young users to proceed.
- The court ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not grant immunity from lawsuits but only serves as a defense against liability, rejecting the companies' early appeal to dismiss the cases.
- The decision enables ongoing lawsuits alleging that social media companies encouraged addictive behavior, failed to verify users' ages, and inadequately blocked harmful content targeting children.
- Meta's attempt to delay a trial by 29 state attorneys general accusing it of illegal data collection and misleading child safety practices was denied, allowing the trial to proceed as scheduled.
- This ruling follows recent legal setbacks for Meta, including a New Mexico court ordering the company to pay $567 million and implement youth-safety measures after finding it created a public nuisance related to teen mental health.
