US Appeals Court Allows Lawsuits Against Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat Over Addictive Design

California. The US Court of Appeals has ruled to allow thousands of lawsuits against Meta Platforms, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat to proceed, alleging that they designed their platforms to be addictive for young users.

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Monday rejected appeals by Meta and TikTok. These companies will have to face more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal court. The lawsuits allege that social media companies intentionally designed their products to be addictive, particularly targeting children and adolescents.