High Court Argues Massachusetts Can Sue Meta in Social Media Addiction Case

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that Meta must face a state lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict young users. 

The Friday, April 10, ruling follows significant courtroom defeats for the social media industry in other states.

Two weeks ago, a California jury awarded $6 million in damages to a 20-year-old woman who claimed she'd become addicted as a child to Meta's Instagram and Google's social video service YouTube. Another jury in New Mexico handed down a $375 million judgment against Meta for alleged deception toward users about mental health risks and concealing information about sexual predators using Meta services to exploit children.

Last Friday's ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court permits a lawsuit that Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed against Meta in 2023 to proceed. Similar lawsuits were also filed in 2023 by 40 other states and the District of Columbia, according to a Boston Globe report.

Campbell's lawsuit calls out social media companies for perpetuating software algorithms that deliver a never-ending river of highly appealing content to users, interfering with individuals' ability and judgment to stop watching. The lawsuit alleges that the companies are fully aware these algorithms can hurt children's mental health, but they have deceived the public about the risks their services pose. According to the lawsuit, this deceit is unfair and illegal under Massachusetts law.

Civil liberties organizations, however, argue that these lawsuits threaten First Amendment protections.

“When courts recharacterize editorial judgments as product defects, they dismantle [federal law] without a single legislative vote and expose every platform that displays user content to broad liability,” said Ashkhen Kazaryan, senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech, in a statement shared with the Globe. “If these precedents stand, this might lead to the end of the open Internet as we know it.”

Meta, however, argues that the Massachusetts lawsuit was barred by a federal law that protects internet companies from liability for user-posted content. This law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, enables social media by allowing companies to publish a broad range of speech, images, and audio without fear of legal consequences.

While the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court holds that Meta is not being sued for displaying potentially harmful materials, it is being held accountable for its zealous tactics to encourage young people to consume this content, while allegedly hiding its stance on the matter from the public.