WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push to avoid a lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram harmed young users, a decision that comes as social-media companies increasingly face legal scrutiny.
Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. appealed after Vermont’s highest court allowed a suit filed by its attorney general in 2023 to move forward. The company is facing similar lawsuits from states across the country, accusing it of knowingly
designing addictive features.
Meta had argued that it can’t be sued in Vermont court because neither the company nor the app design has specific ties to the state. Vermont countered that the sites’ large group of teen users in the state gives courts jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. The decision comes after court losses for Meta and YouTube in social media addiction lawsuits in California and New Mexico.
The lawsuits were filed after an investigation by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in several states, including Vermont. Newspaper reports based on Meta’s own research also found that the company knew about the harms Instagram can cause teenagers — especially teen girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues. One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.
Almost all teens ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform, with about a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.
Meta, for its part, has said that it has already introduced dozens of tools to support teens and their families and suggested it would have worked with the states on standards for youth social media use.
