The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on August 10, 2026, ruled that Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat and other social media companies must face more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging their platforms were intentionally designed to addict young users and harm mental health [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
The court denied Meta and TikTok's appeal to overturn a lower court ruling, stating the appeal was premature since such appeals typically come after case resolution [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Plaintiffs include states, municipalities, school districts and individuals claiming the companies misled the public about platform safety, illegally collected children's data, and engineered addictive features that hooked young users [1, 2, 3, 6].
The court clarified that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not grant immunity from lawsuits alleging addictive design and failure to warn, though it does provide some defense against liability [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
Meta's request to delay an August 12, 2026 trial filed by 29 state attorneys general was also denied. The lawsuit accuses Meta of illegal data collection and addictive platform design targeting children [1, 2, 5, 6].
Days before the appeals ruling, a New Mexico judge found Meta created a public nuisance in the state. The court ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund and take youth safety measures [1, 2, 5, 6].
Meta and TikTok declined immediate comment following the ruling [1, 2, 6].
Plaintiffs’ attorneys Lexi Hazam and Previn Warren said, "A trial is how the public finds out what Meta knew about its products' impact on children, when it knew it, and what it chose to do with that knowledge. Meta has fought to keep that evidence from the public" [2].
The trial involving the lawsuit by 29 state attorneys general against Meta is set to begin on August 12, 2026 [1, 2, 5, 6].
