A US appellate court ruled on Monday to allow thousands of lawsuits against Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, and Snap's Snapchat to continue. The lawsuits accuse these companies of designing products that are easily addictive to young users. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the appeal filed by Meta and two other companies, saying it was premature. The two companies are seeking to reverse a lower court ruling requiring them to respond to more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal courts. The companies have argued that section 230 of the 1996 Communications Regulations Act prohibits lawsuits alleging that they failed to warn the public about platform addiction. This provision generally protects internet companies from being charged in connection with content posted by users.

A US appellate court ruled on Monday to allow thousands of lawsuits against Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, and Snap's Snapchat to continue. The lawsuits accuse these companies of designing products that are easily addictive to young users. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the appeal filed by Meta and two other companies, saying it was premature. The two companies are seeking to reverse a lower court ruling requiring them to respond to more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal courts. The companies have argued that section 230 of the 1996 Communications Regulations Act prohibits lawsuits alleging that they failed to warn the public about platform addiction. This provision generally protects internet companies from being charged in connection with content posted by users.