"US court rules Meta, tech firms must face thousands of lawsuits over social media addiction", 11 August 2026

A U.S. appeals court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta Platforms , Alphabet's Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and other social media companies over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling forcing them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits over the claims filed in federal court, concluding that the appeal came too early in the litigation.

The defendants, which also include Snap Inc's Snapchat, had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 -- which generally shields online companies from claims over content posted by their users - also bars lawsuits claiming they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature of their platforms.

Most appeals come after a case has concluded with a ruling or a verdict. Meta had argued that Section 230 provided it broad immunity and that it should be able to appeal the lower court's decision immediately. But the 9th Circuit said Section 230 provides a defense to liability, not immunity from lawsuits, so the appeal was premature.

The court also denied Meta's bid to postpone a trial beginning Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general alleging that the company illegally collected and used children’s data, designed their social media platforms to keep young users hooked, and misled consumers about their safety...