A federal judge has declined Metaplatforms’ attempt to dismiss a lawsuit from 29 state attorneys general. The lawsuit claims that the company intentionally crafted Facebook and Instagram to keep children addicted while concealing the potential harm from the public.
In a ruling delivered late Monday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, based in Oakland, California, dismissed Mehta’s motion to throw out accusations of deception, tortious acts, and violations of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
The judge noted that Meta had failed to meet the law’s requirements for notifying parents and obtaining consent, and granted summary judgment to the states on this issue.
Mehta and his legal team did not immediately provide comments when reached on Tuesday.
Judge Gonzalez-Rogers is also managing similar litigation involving over 2,600 individuals, school districts, and local governments questioning whether social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok are addictive for children.
Meta’s Response to the Claims
The states argued that studies indicate children’s engagement with Facebook and Instagram could lead to various issues, including depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, disruptions in education, and even self-harm or suicide.
In response, Mehta asserted that there is no proof, including the testimony of CEO Mark Zuckerberg before Congress, suggesting that the attorney general misled the public about the platforms’ purported addictive nature.
The company, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, contends that because “social media addiction” is not recognized as an official mental illness, their assertion that their platform isn’t addictive is not misleading.
Mehta also argued that Facebook and Instagram do not breach the Children’s Online Privacy Act, asserting that their platforms cater to a general audience rather than exclusively to children under 13.
Judge Identifies Disputes Around Addiction
In a detailed 38-page ruling, Gonzalez-Rogers found significant factual disagreements regarding the addictive nature of Mehta’s social media platforms, whether he falsely claimed they weren’t designed for such purposes, and whether they were “partly” aimed at children.
“The AG provides a reasonable interpretation. [Meta’s] assertion that Facebook and Instagram are not engineered to compel teenagers to use the platforms compulsively, to their detriment, might be reasonably found false by a jury, depending on the evidence presented,” she stated.
A trial is set for August 18, per the court records.
