KUALA LUMPUR — A California federal judge has given the green light for other US states to sue Meta for its role in mental health problems among teenagers through its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
Reuters reports that Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on Tuesday to reject Meta’s bid to dismiss claims made by states against the tech giant in lawsuits filed last year.
The claims by more than 30 states accuse Meta of making Facebook and Instagram “addictive” to teens thus fueling mental health problems.
States that had filed claims include California, New York and Florida.
In her ruling, Rogers found that the states had provided “enough detail about allegedly misleading statements” made by Meta.
With this, the states and other plaintiffs now have a path to seek more evidence and potential go to trial against Meta.
Reuters also reported a Meta spokesman saying the company “disagreed with the overall ruling” as it had “developed numerous tools to support parents and teens,” including new “Teen Accounts” on Instagram with added protections.
Rogers’ ruling also rejected motions by Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok, Google parent Alphabet, YouTube and Snap’s SnapChat to dismiss related personal injury lawsuits by individual plaintiffs in suits that are separate from those brought by the states. – October 16, 2024