Tech Giants Ordered to Face Lawsuits Over Youth Addiction and Child Safety

A federal judge in California has ruled against major social media companies, including Alphabet (Google and YouTube), Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram), ByteDance (TikTok), and Snap (Snapchat), rejecting their attempts to dismiss nationwide litigation accusing them of illegally enticing and addicting millions of children to their platforms, resulting in negative mental health effects. The lawsuits, filed on behalf of individual children, seek damages and a halt to the defendants' alleged wrongful practices. The judge stated that the companies could be sued for negligence over their duty to design reasonably safe products and to warn users of known defects, but they owed no legal obligation to protect users from harm caused by third-party users.