Mark Zuckerberg Cleared of Personal Liability in 25 Lawsuits Over Social Media Addiction Claims

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A federal judge ruled that the Facebook, Instagram, and Meta conglomerate owner was not personally responsible for making children addicted to social media.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, dismissed the accusations against Zuckerberg. 

According to her ruling, Zuckerberg did not lead Meta’s efforts to conceal the serious mental health risks posed by Facebook and Instagram for children.

The plaintiffs claimed that the billionaire Meta co-founder was the «guiding spirit» behind the alleged cover-up efforts. 

They argued that Zuckerberg ignored repeated internal warnings about the risks and publicly downplayed them.

«The control of corporate activity alone is insufficient» to establish liability, said the judge. She clarified that her decision only affected the claims against Zuckerberg personally, not those directed at Meta as a company.

The legal term in question is «corporate-office liability,» which refers to establishing responsibility for corporate executives. In this case, the judge concluded that it did not apply to Zuckerberg.

The lawsuit was filed under the laws of 13 U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

What do the accusers say?

Although there are 25 separate lawsuits, they represent the cases of hundreds of children, their families, and school districts.

 The plaintiffs are seeking damages from Meta, Google’s parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.O), TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, and Snapchat’s parent company Snap (SNAP.N) over social media addiction.

Previn Warren, @Motleyrice Attorney who represents families who have sued Meta, welcomed the measures but said “they should — and could — have been implemented years ago, before the hundreds of families that we represent experienced the harms of social media addiction.”… pic.twitter.com/Srtu41LQn4

— Nick Hennen (@nicksologist) September 18, 2024

And it doesn’t end there. The plaintiffs argue that they are trying to «uncover the truth about how big tech companies have deliberately prioritized profits over the safety of our children,» as reported by Previn Warren, a partner at the law firm Motley Rice, which represents the plaintiffs.

According to Warren, the companies should have — and could have — implemented safeguards years ago, before hundreds of families like theirs had to endure the consequences of social media addiction.

He added that their clients will continue gathering evidence. And they are not alone. 

Dozens of state attorneys general are filing similar cases against Meta, linking its platforms to anxiety, depression, insomnia, and interference with education and daily life.

Due to time zone differences, the first outlets to cover the news were from Asia. 

Reports from India indicate that these cases are part of a broader legal effort involving over 1,000 lawsuits filed in California courts by families and public-school districts. 

Meta, Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, are all named in this wave of litigation, which targets the alleged harm caused to adolescents by their platforms.

For those wishing to investigate the case further, it is archived under the title: «In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation,» U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-md-03047.