{"id":88876,"date":"2026-06-30T09:16:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judge-refuses-to-toss-states-lawsuit-over-facebook-instagram-child-addiction\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T09:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:16:47","slug":"federal-judge-refuses-to-toss-states-lawsuit-over-facebook-instagram-child-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-judge-refuses-to-toss-states-lawsuit-over-facebook-instagram-child-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Refuses to Toss States’ Lawsuit Over Facebook, Instagram Child Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

A federal judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit brought by dozens of state attorneys general against Meta Platforms, allowing claims to proceed that the company deliberately built Facebook and Instagram to hook children and then hid the damage it was causing.<\/p>

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, based in Oakland, California, issued the ruling late Monday, rejecting Meta’s motion to dismiss. The judge allowed claims involving deception, unfair practices, and violations of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to continue.<\/p>

Judge Gonzalez Rogers went further, stating there was no dispute that Meta failed to meet the law’s requirements for notifying users and obtaining parental consent. On that specific point, she granted summary judgment in favor of the states \u2014 meaning that portion of the case is essentially already decided against Meta.<\/p>

As of Tuesday, Meta had not responded to requests for comment on the ruling.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge has allowed a multi-state lawsuit against Meta Platforms to move forward, rejecting the tech giant’s effort to have the case thrown out. Dozens of state attorneys general claim Meta intentionally designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children while hiding the dangers. The judge also ruled that Meta had clearly failed to follow federal children’s online privacy law requirements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":88875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[831],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782825407402.jpg?fit=450%2C311&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-n7u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57163,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/musks-fraud-claims-against-openai-dropped-trial-set-to-begin-monday\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":0},"title":"Musk’s Fraud Claims Against OpenAI Dropped, Trial Set to Begin Monday","author":"Admin","date":"April 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A federal judge has thrown out Elon Musk's fraud allegations against artificial intelligence company OpenAI at his own request. The case will move forward on other claims, with jury selection starting Monday in California.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1777076536915.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50171,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/massachusetts-high-court-forces-meta-to-face-youth-addiction-lawsuit\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":1},"title":"Massachusetts High Court Forces Meta to Face Youth Addiction Lawsuit","author":"Admin","date":"April 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Massachusetts' highest court ruled that Meta must defend against allegations that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to addict young users. The decision marks the first time a state supreme court has addressed whether federal internet protections apply to youth addiction claims against social media companies.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775831027123.jpg?fit=450%2C253&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66601,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/musk-vs-openai-lawsuit-nears-end-as-closing-arguments-set\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":2},"title":"Musk vs OpenAI Lawsuit Nears End as Closing Arguments Set","author":"Admin","date":"May 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Elon Musk's legal battle against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman enters closing arguments in Oakland federal court. Musk claims the artificial intelligence company betrayed its nonprofit mission to benefit humanity and is seeking $150 billion in damages.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778772265379.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61396,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/new-mexico-takes-meta-to-court-over-youth-mental-health-claims\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":3},"title":"New Mexico Takes Meta to Court Over Youth Mental Health Claims","author":"Admin","date":"May 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"New Mexico's attorney general is seeking court-ordered changes to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp after winning a $375 million judgment against Meta. The state claims the social media platforms deliberately designed addictive features that harm young users' mental health.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1777891015292.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42390,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/los-angeles-jury-delivers-verdict-in-major-social-media-addiction-lawsuit\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":4},"title":"Los Angeles Jury Delivers Verdict in Major Social Media Addiction Lawsuit","author":"Admin","date":"March 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Los Angeles jury has reached a decision in a groundbreaking lawsuit against Meta and Google over social media addiction claims. The case involves a young woman who alleges Instagram and YouTube's design features caused her addiction, and could impact thousands of similar pending lawsuits nationwide.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1774461063639.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57870,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/tech-billionaires-musk-and-altman-battle-over-ais-future-in-oakland-court\/","url_meta":{"origin":88876,"position":5},"title":"Tech Billionaires Musk and Altman Battle Over AI’s Future in Oakland Court","author":"Admin","date":"April 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI leader Sam Altman are facing off in a federal trial that could reshape artificial intelligence development. Musk claims Altman betrayed their original nonprofit mission by turning OpenAI into a profit-driven company.","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1777275499980.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1777275499980.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1777275499980.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1777275499980.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}