Meta, TikTok, Google and Snap will have to face more than 3,000 lawsuits accusing the tech giants of designing their social media platforms to addict young users after a federal appeals court rejected their bid to immediately appeal the litigation Monday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies’ attempt to immediately appeal an earlier ruling allowing the cases to proceed, concluding that the appeal came too early in the litigation, according to Reuters.
At the center of the dispute is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the decades-old federal law that generally protects online platforms from liability over content posted by their users. The companies argued that Section 230 provided broad immunity that entitled them to immediately appeal the lower court’s decision.
The appeals court concluded that Section 230 provides a defense against liability rather than immunity from being sued, meaning the companies could not appeal at this stage.
The decision allows more than 3,000 federal lawsuits filed by states, municipalities, school districts and individuals to move forward. The plaintiffs allege the companies deliberately designed features to keep young users hooked on their platforms, contributing to depression, anxiety, body-image issues and other harms.
Meta suffered another setback Monday when the appeals court declined to postpone a separate trial scheduled to begin Wednesday. The lawsuit, brought by 29 state attorneys general, alleges the company illegally collected and used children’s data, designed its social media platforms to keep young users engaged and misled consumers about their safety.
The companies are also facing hundreds of similar lawsuits in state court.
In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent in the first case to reach trial in consolidated California social media addiction litigation. The jury awarded $6 million to a woman who said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child.
Meta has also suffered recent legal losses in New Mexico. A jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in March, and a judge last week ordered it to pay another $567 million and implement youth-safety measures after finding the company had created a public nuisance.
Meta and Google have denied wrongdoing in those cases and said they would appeal.
Meta did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
