Major social media companies must face allegations that their services addicted teen users and caused other mental health harms after a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss the bellwether lawsuit filed by a wave of consumer plaintiffs.

The decision is a blow to tech giants Google, Meta, Snap and TikTok, who claimed the case should be tossed out on First Amendment grounds and the argument that they are immune from liability under a hot-button legal shield known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

In her 52-page ruling, District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers held that while Section 230 and the First Amendment do shield the social media companies from some of the plaintiffs’ claims, including certain product defect allegations, others should be allowed to proceed.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/tech/social-media-teen-addiction/index.html