US Judge Allows Major Lawsuit Against Meta Over Youth Addiction to Facebook and Instagram to Proceed

Meta suffered a significant legal setback in the United States after a federal judge rejected the company's request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 29 states. The lawsuit accuses Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to encourage addiction among children and teenagers while concealing the associated mental and physical health risks. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the federal court in Oakland, California, ruled that there are substantial factual disputes regarding whether the platforms were intentionally made addictive, whether Meta misled the public about these risks, and whether the platforms targeted children.

The judge noted that the plaintiffs presented a reasonable interpretation of Meta's statements denying that Facebook and Instagram were designed to cause compulsive use by teens to their detriment. She stated that if the evidence shows the platforms were indeed designed to be addictive, a jury could reasonably find Meta's denials false. Additionally, the court sided with the states on a key issue, ruling that Meta failed to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires parental notification and consent before collecting personal data from children under 13.

Meta strongly denied the allegations, asserting its long-standing commitment to supporting young users and disputing claims of misleading the public. The states cited numerous studies linking prolonged use of Facebook and Instagram by minors to depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, academic and daily life impairments, self-harm, and suicide. Meta countered that "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric diagnosis and that its platforms are intended for a general audience, not exclusively for children under 13.

This lawsuit is part of a broader US government effort against social media companies over their impact on minors. Judge Gonzalez Rogers is also overseeing a consolidated case involving over 2,600 plaintiffs, including families and educational districts, accusing Meta and other companies like Google, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok of creating addictive mechanisms targeting youth. The trial for the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey against Meta is scheduled to begin on August 18. The case could become one of the most significant legal battles in recent years regarding tech companies' responsibility for their products' effects on young people's mental health.