Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
A U.S. appeals court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, ByteDance’s TikTok and Snap Inc’s (SNAP.N), opens new tab Snapchat over claims they designed their products to be addictive to young users.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok seeking to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal court, saying the companies had appealed too early.
The companies had argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 — which generally shields online companies from claims over content posted by their users — also bars lawsuits claiming they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature of their platforms.
Most appeals come after a case has concluded with a ruling or a verdict. The companies contended that they should not have to wait until the litigation ends to challenge the lower court’s rejection of their immunity defense.
But the 9th Circuit said Section 230 provides a defense to liability, not immunity from lawsuits, so the appeal was premature.
