Social media giants face thousands of US lawsuits

Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s YouTube, TikTok parent ByteDance and Snap are facing thousands of lawsuits brought by US states, school districts and individuals alleging the companies intentionally designed their platforms to keep young users hooked. The companies have denied allegations that their products have contributed to depression, anxiety, body-image issues and a broader youth mental health crisis, saying they take action to protect the youngest users of their platforms. The companies also have argued that Section 230 of a federal law called the Communications Decency Act shields them from claims based on the content their users post. Here is a look at the current state of the litigation in US courts. States seek billions over alleged harm Nearly every US state filed claims against social media companies over the alleged impact on children of their platforms.

The lawsuits seek damages or financial penalties, as well as court orders directing the companies to make significant changes to their platforms. In August, Meta resolved nearly all of the state lawsuits against it with settlements worth up to $18 billion over the next decade. As part of the deal, Meta agreed to limit how teenagers can use Facebook and Instagram. The deal made $5 billion of the payout contingent on YouTube, TikTok and Snap reaching similar agreements with the states. New Mexico and Florida did not join the settlement. Florida has an ongoing lawsuit against Meta in state court. New Mexico has sued Meta twice. Earlier this year, jurors and a judge ordered the Facebook and Instagram parent company to pay more than $940 million to the state after finding that Meta failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation on its platforms. In October, another New Mexico jury agreed with the state that…