"Important victory"

Meta faces lawsuits over addiction risk

In the fight against the negative effects of social media on young people, the technology company Meta is facing a series of lawsuits. On Tuesday, a federal judge in California rejected the Facebook parent company's request to dismiss the lawsuits filed by several US states. 

The plaintiffs accuse Meta of promoting mental health problems among young people through the addictive potential of its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The plaintiffs' lawyers described the decision as an "important victory for young people across the country who are negatively impacted by addictive and harmful social media platforms".

Meta expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling. A spokesperson for the company said Meta disagreed with the decision overall and had "developed numerous tools to support parents and teens", including new "accounts for teens" on Instagram with additional protections.

Paving the way for personal injury lawsuits by individuals
The decision paves the way for further legal action by the plaintiffs. The judge also denied motions by Meta, TikTok by ByteDance, YouTube by Google's parent company Alphabet and Snapchat to dismiss related personal injury lawsuits by individuals.

A Google spokesperson denied the allegations, stating, "Providing a safer and healthier experience for young people has always been at the core of what we do." The other social media companies did not initially respond to requests for comment from Reuters news agency.