By Andrew Chung
May 26 () - On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to take up Meta Platforms' request to prevent a lawsuit initiated by Vermont's attorney general, who alleges that the company created its Instagram social media app to be addictive for young users. This comes as major technology companies encounter increasing legal challenges concerning the safety of children and teenagers.
The judges dismissed Meta's request to review a lower court's decision that allowed the lawsuit to continue, dismissing the company's claim that Vermont courts do not have authority over the case.
The case is one of many legal actions taken by individuals, cities, states, and school districts across the country, as part of a worldwide reaction to the impact of social media on young people, with lawsuits targeting how companies created and managed their platforms.
Vermont claimed that Instagram was created to "take advantage of teenagers' growing brains" in order to encourage dependency and increase ad sales, including advertisements aimed at Vermont's audience and young people. Additionally, Vermont alleged that Meta deliberately provided false information regarding the safety of its platform.
Meta stated that the state did not claim it created the app or its features in Vermont, nor that any of the supposed false statements regarding Instagram's safety or addictive nature occurred in Vermont. Testifying in February during a youth social media addiction trial in California, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied that Instagram specifically targets children.
In 2023, Vermont's Democratic Attorney General, Charity Clark, filed a lawsuit against Meta in state court based on the state's consumer protection laws. She alleged that Instagram has researched teenagers' neurological, cognitive, and psychological weaknesses to encourage excessive and compulsive app usage, negatively impacting their mental well-being.
The legal action was a component of a unified initiative where 42 state attorneys general initiated enforcement proceedings in both state and federal courts across the nation.
Meta aimed to have the Vermont case dismissed. The company has claimed that permitting the case to move forward in Vermont is unjust, infringing on its right to due process under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as it could expose the company to legal actions in all 50 states.
In 2025, the Vermont Supreme Court dismissed this issue, stating that since the state filed a lawsuit against Meta for allegedly promoting a dangerous design and deceiving users about it—by utilizing personal data and earning income in the process—any due process worries are "definitely resolved."
"A company that actively seeks out and utilizes a forum state's market for its own financial benefit should anticipate being summoned to court in that location to explain its actions connected to those business operations," stated the Vermont Supreme Court.
Meta's challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court comes after the company faced adverse rulings in state courts recently.
In April, the highest court in Massachusetts determined that Meta is required to confront a comparable youth addiction lawsuit initiated by the state's attorney general.
In March, a jury mandated that Meta pay $375 million in civil fines as part of a legal case initiated by the attorney general of New Mexico. The lawsuit alleged that the company deceived users regarding the safety of Facebook and Instagram and facilitated child sexual exploitation on these platforms.
In March, another jury in Los Angeles determined that Meta and Alphabet's Google were at fault for creating social media platforms that negatively impact youth, granting a total of $6 million to a 20-year-old woman who claimed she developed an addiction to social media as a child.
In May, Meta resolved a legal case initiated by a school district in Kentucky, which is among numerous entities aiming to have social media companies bear the expenses that schools claim they have faced while addressing a mental health crisis they attribute to these platforms.
(Reported by Andrew Chung in New York; Edited by Will Dunham)
No comments:
Post a Comment