US appeals court says social media addiction lawsuits can proceed

What the report says

A federal appeals court in the United States has cleared the way for thousands of lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat and other social media companies to continue, rejecting early efforts to halt the cases before trial. Al Jazeera reported that the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the companies’ challenge came too soon, and that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not provide blanket immunity from being sued over claims tied to allegedly addictive platform design.

The decision matters because the lawsuits accuse the companies of knowingly creating products that keep children and teenagers hooked while contributing to mental health harms. The cases, brought by states, cities, school districts and individual families, are consolidated before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. Plaintiffs are seeking damages, penalties and restitution. Meta also lost a request to delay a trial scheduled to begin Wednesday in a separate case brought by 29 state attorneys general.

The ruling comes amid broader pressure on major platforms over youth safety and online harms. Al Jazeera noted that some countries are moving ahead with restrictions on social media access for minors, and that public debate has intensified around possible links between heavy use of these apps and issues such as self-harm, anxiety and eating disorders. The companies named in the US litigation have denied wrongdoing and said they intend to appeal.