On Thursday, a day before the ruling, Meta also announced that Facebook and Instagram will no longer allow law firm advertisements seeking new plaintiffs for ongoing litigation accusing it—and other social media companies—of engineering a youth addiction crisis.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has determined that Meta must face a lawsuit accusing the social media company of designing a product they knew would prove addict to children and other vulnerable users.
According to Reuters, the Friday ruling marks the first time that any state’s high court has considered whether a federal rule that shields internet companies from claims related to user-posted content can be extended to matters of addiction.
In a unanimous decision, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt said that the state Attorney General Joy Campbell’s lawsuit does not seek to hold Meta liable for content created by any of its platforms’ users. If this had been the case, Meta would likely have been protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a longstanding legal bulwark for the technology industry.
The Guardian notes that Joy’s office has argued that Section 230 does not apply to promises Meta has made about the safety of some of its most popular social media products, including Instagram, and the efforts it’s taken to protect young users from both predation and addiction.
The court agreed, with Wendlandt finding that Section 230 does not apply to allegations against Instagram’s design features because Massachusetts is “principally seeking to hold Meta laible for its own business conduct,” not a third party’s content.
“Instead, the claims allege harm stemming from Meta’s own conduct either by designing a social media platform that capitalizes on the developmental vulnerabilities of children or by affirmatively misleading consumers about the safety of the Instagram platform,” Wendlandt wrote.
Campbell, a Democrat, has since called the ruling “a major step in holding these companies accountable for practices that have fueled the youth mental health crisis and put profits over kids.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Meta said that the company continues to disagree with the “false distinction” between content and platform design. Meta also noted that the ruling does not address the actual merits of the case.
“We are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” Meta said.
On Thursday, a day before the ruling, Meta also announced that Facebook and Instagram will no longer allow law firm advertisements seeking new plaintiffs for ongoing litigation accusing it—and other social media companies—of engineering a youth addiction crisis.
“We will not allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said.
The Guardian reports that more than 3,300 addiction-related claims remain pending in California state court against not only Meta but some of its biggest rivals, including Google, Snapchat, and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
Sources
Meta must face Massachusetts lawsuit over youth social media addiction, court rules
Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit by Massachusetts, court rules
Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit by Massachusetts, court rules
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