Mass. high court allows AG’s lawsuit against Meta to move forward

Local News

As the state’s new social media law comes closer to passing, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s lawsuit against Meta has been allowed to move forward.

Meta Platforms Inc. signage in Menlo Park, California. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Massachusetts’ highest court on Friday ruled that social media giant Meta is not immune from lawsuits over addictive features like endless scrolling and algorithm-driven content.

The ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clears the way for Attorney General Andrea Campbell to go forward with a lawsuit against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The suit alleges that addictive features such as incessant notifications, infinite scrolling, and time-limited prompts exploit and harm young users.

The justices said a federal law known as Section 230, which protects online platforms from liability for user-posted content, does not preclude claims that Meta’s platform design violates state consumer protection laws.

“We decline Meta’s invitation to read [Section 230] immunity so broadly,” the court wrote

The justices emphasized that the case concerns Meta’s own conduct, not user content.

“The claims do not seek to impose liability on Meta for information provided by third parties,” the court wrote. “Instead, the claims allege harm stemming from Meta’s own conduct,” including designing platforms that “capitalize on the developmental vulnerabilities of children” and misleading users about safety.

The court’s decision allows the case to move forward at an early stage of litigation.

Instagram is used by over 33 million young people, including over 300,000 daily active users in Massachusetts, from ages 13 to 17, according to the justices.

The ruling comes days after the Massachusetts lawmakers approved a bill that would ban kids under 14 from using social media and require a cellphone ban in public schools.

It also follows two other major legal setbacks for the industry.

Earlier this month, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled users and failed to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors. A day later, a California jury found Meta and Google liable for a young woman’s depression and suicidal thoughts linked to Instagram and YouTube, awarding $6 million in damages.

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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