Federal judge rejects Meta Platforms’ request to dismiss lawsuit 29 U.S. state attorney general accuses him of engineering Facebook and Instagram addictive children and knowingly concealing the injury from the public.
In a ruling late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, Calif., denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the claims based on deception, unfair practice and violations of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
Judge also said Meta failed to comply with the law’s notice and parental consent requirements, and summary judgment was granted to the states on that issue.
Yuan and their lawyers No immediate response Require Tuesday for comment.
Gonzalez Rogers also oversees related multi-district litigation brought by more than 2,600 individuals, school districts and local governments over children addicted to Facebook, Instagram, Google and social media platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok.
Yuan downplays the harm
States say research shows children’s use of Facebook and Instagram can lead to depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life and self-harm including suicide.
Meta countered that the attorney general had no evidence that the company misled consumers about its platform’s alleged addiction issues, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said that’s because “social media addiction” is not an established mental illness, so claims that its platform isn’t addictive can’t be false.
Meta also said it did not violate children’s online privacy laws because it targeted Facebook and Instagram to a general audience, not just children under 13.
Judge finds factual disputes over addiction
In a 38-page ruling, Gonzalez Rogers found significant factual disputes over whether Meta’s social media platform was addictive, whether Meta falsely denied it was designed to be so, and whether the platform was “partially” targeted at children.
“The AG justified (Meta’s) statements that Facebook and Instagram were not designed in a way that would cause adolescents to compulsively use the platforms to their detriment,” she wrote. “If the plaintiff’s evidence showed that the platforms were in fact designed to do just that, the jury could reasonably find that those statements would be untrue to a reasonable person.”
The trial is scheduled for Aug. 18, court records show.
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