A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled Meta must face a state lawsuit, alleging the company knowingly designed and deployed features harmful to young online users.
Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp issued the ruling Thursday in response to Meta’s request to have the case tossed.
The social media giant argued the suit created a nuisance and violated Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which can protect tech companies from being held liable for information uploaded by their users.
In his ruling, made public Friday, Krupp wrote Section 230 does not apply to the suit’s claims due to Meta’s own statements about its platforms’ safety and publishing conduct.
Massachusetts was among dozens of states to file suit against Meta last year over accusations the company knowingly designed and implemented features that were detrimental to the mental health of young users.
In doing so, the tech company allegedly misrepresented the safety of its users to the public, the suits argue.
These allegations are not immune under Section 230 as they were “principally seeking to hold Meta liable for its own business conduct,” rather than the content posted by third-party users, Krupp wrote.
The judge further rejected Meta’s claim that the suit violates the First Amendment.
Calling the argument “unavailing,” Krupp ruled the state’s claims regard Meta’s conduct and product design, not its expressive content.
“Meta has failed to establish that the claims are entirely based on protected speech or expression and that therefore dismissal is appropriate,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Meta said the company “disagrees” with the decision.
“We’ve developed numerous tools to support parents and teens, and we recently announced that we’re significantly changing the Instagram experience for tens of millions of teens with new Teen Accounts, a protected experience for teens that automatically limits who can contact them and the content they see,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Hill. “We believe the evidence will demonstrate our commitment to supporting young people.”
Krupp’s ruling came two days after a federal judge in California similarly rejected Meta’s bid to dismiss lawsuits by more than 30 states over the same allegations, Reuters reported.
Massachusetts was one of a few states to file claims in their own states rather than on a federal level.
Court documents part of Massachusetts’s case offered insight last year into Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged role in making decisions about features for teens on the platform.
According to the unredacted lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D), Zuckerberg allegedly halted proposals aimed at improving Facebook and Instagram’s impact on teen mental health.
The CEO is accused of vetoing plans to ban filters that simulate plastic surgery on Meta-owned platforms and ignored requests from top executives to boost investments in teens’ well-being.
A Meta spokesperson pushed back on these allegations at the time.
The suits come as Meta platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, along with other social media companies face increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and parents over social media’s impact on youth safety and mental health.
Updated at 7:02 p.m. EDT