A US appeals court has allowed more than 3,000 lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Google and Snap to continue, rejecting the companies’ attempt to use Section 230 to stop the litigation at this stage. The cases allege that social media platforms intentionally incorporated addictive design features that harmed children and teenagers.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed appeals brought by the technology companies after concluding they were premature. The lawsuits have been consolidated in federal court in California and include claims from individuals, school districts, state governments and local authorities.
The decision does not determine whether the companies are ultimately liable for the alleged harms. Instead, it means the litigation can continue in the lower court before the companies potentially raise their Section 230 arguments again later.
Section 230 Defense Can Be Raised Later
The companies argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act should protect them from claims related to their platforms, including allegations that they failed to warn users about potentially addictive design choices. The law generally protects online platforms from being treated as publishers of content created by their users.
The appeals court did not resolve the wider question of how Section 230 applies to the design claims. According to Reuters, the judges concluded that Section 230 provides a defense rather than immunity from having to face litigation, making an immediate appeal unavailable in these circumstances.
Plaintiffs argue that their cases concern features created by the platforms themselves rather than liability for individual posts uploaded by users. Earlier proceedings in the consolidated litigation have examined claims involving product design, warnings and other platform features.
Social Media Companies Face Wider Child Safety Cases
The federal litigation comes as Meta and other platforms face separate cases over allegations that their products harmed young users. In March, a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a case involving claims that their platforms contributed to a young woman’s mental health problems, awarding $6 million.
Meta also lost a separate case brought by New Mexico, where a jury found the company had violated state consumer protection law. A judge subsequently ordered Meta to contribute $567 million to a youth mental health fund, in addition to an earlier $375 million award. Meta has said it plans to appeal.
The consolidated federal cases will now continue before the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The proceedings remain focused on whether features and other design decisions by social media companies caused or contributed to harms alleged by younger users.
Featured image credits: Relevance
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