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Appeals Court Lets Thousands of Social Media Addiction Lawsuits Proceed

Politics8 sourcesAug 10, 2026
FlatRigor 478 sources

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. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling. The lawsuits claim the platforms are addictive and harmful to young users. The court ruled an appeal was made too early to use Section 230 of the Communications Act as a defense.

What they agree on

  • A U.S. appeals court has allowed thousands of lawsuits against social media companies to proceed.
  • The lawsuits allege that social media platforms are designed to be addictive and harmful to young users.
  • Meta Platforms, ByteDance's TikTok, and Alphabet's Google are among the companies facing these lawsuits.
  • The companies had appealed a lower court's ruling.

Where they split

  • The Express Tribune and Reuters led with the court ruling against Meta and other tech companies.
  • Forbes and TechCrunch included details about the specific number of lawsuits, around 2,400.
  • The Boston Globe and Axios mentioned the specific legal defense companies attempted to use, Section 230 of the Communications Act.
  • The Express Tribune and Channel News Asia provided the ruling date as Monday.