US court rules Meta, other tech companies must face thousands of lawsuits over social media addiction

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed thousands of lawsuits to proceed against major tech companies, including Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and Snap Inc's Snapchat. The companies are accused of designing their products to be addictive to young users, contributing to a mental health crisis among American youth.

The San Francisco-based appeals court rejected Meta and TikTok's appeal seeking to overturn a lower court ruling, stating that the companies had appealed too early. Meta has argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 shields them from claims about the addictive nature of their platforms. The lawsuits, filed by states, municipalities, school districts, and individuals, allege that social media companies intentionally addicted young users, leading to depression, anxiety, and body-image issues.

A trial is scheduled to begin this week, where the public will learn about the companies' knowledge of the impact on children, when they became aware, and their response to that knowledge.