Meta must face Massachusetts social media addiction lawsuit

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By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -Meta Platforms must face a lawsuit by Massachusetts alleging the social media company purposely deployed features on its Instagram platform to addict young users and deceived the public about the dangers it posed to the mental health of teenagers, a judge ruled.

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp in Boston, in a decision made public on Friday, rejected Meta’s request to dismiss claims by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell that it violated state consumer protection law and created a public nuisance.

The Facebook and Instagram operator argued the state’s case was barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a federal law that broadly shields internet companies from lawsuits over content posted by users.

Krupp said the law did not apply to false statements Meta allegedly made about the safety of Instagram, its efforts to protect its young users’ well-being or its age-verification systems to ensure people under age 13 stay off the platform.

He said allegations concerning the negative impacts of Instagram’s design features were likewise not barred because the state was “principally seeking to hold Meta liable for its own business conduct,” not content posted by third parties.

Campbell, a Democrat, in a statement said that as a result of the judge’s ruling, “we can now move forward with our claims to hold Meta accountable and continue to push for meaningful change on Meta’s platforms that will protect young users.”

A Meta spokesperson said the company disagreed with the ruling and that the “evidence will demonstrate our commitment to supporting young people.”

The ruling came after a federal judge in California on Tuesday rejected a request by Meta to dismiss lawsuits by more than 30 states accusing it of fueling mental health problems among teens by making its social media platforms addictive.

Massachusetts was one of a handful of states that pursued separate claims in state court, rather than federal, when it sued in October 2023.

It became one of the higher profile lawsuits because of allegations it first aired about how CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been dismissive of concerns that aspects of Instagram could have a harmful effect on its users.

The lawsuit alleged that features on Instagram such as push notifications, “likes” of user posts and a never-ending scroll were designed to profit off of teens’ psychological vulnerabilities and their “fear of missing out.”

The state alleged that internal data showed the platform was addicting and harming children, yet top executives rejected changes its research showed would improve teens’ well-being.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Bill Berkrot and Deepa Babington)