Zuckerberg dodges personal liability in Meta addiction lawsuits in US
What's the story
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., has successfully avoided personal liability in approximately two dozen lawsuits.
These legal actions allege that Meta and other social media firms, have contributed to addiction in children through their products.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, dismissed Zuckerberg as an individual defendant today, but this ruling does not affect the claims against Meta as a corporation.
Ruling
'Zuckerberg under no obligation to reveal safety information'
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of young users, who alleged that Zuckerberg had been warned multiple times about the potential harm Instagram and Facebook could cause to children.
The plaintiffs claimed that despite these warnings, Zuckerberg intentionally chose not to disclose this information.
However, Judge Rogers ruled that unless there was a "special relationship" with Meta's product users, Zuckerberg had no obligation to reveal safety information.
Answer
Judge's explanation on Zuckerberg's non-liability
Judge Rogers clarified that being the public face of Meta does not automatically make Zuckerberg liable. She stated, "The court will not countenance such a novel approach here." Despite this ruling, plaintiffs and their families have been permitted to amend and refile their complaints.
Broader perspective
Larger context of Meta addiction lawsuits
The lawsuits involving Zuckerberg are part of over 1,000 suits filed in the US, against Meta and other companies like Google (owned by Alphabet), TikTok (owned by ByteDance), and Snapchat (owned by Snap Inc.).
Some claims were allowed to proceed against these companies, while others were dismissed.
All the accused companies have denied any wrongdoing and maintain that they have taken measures to protect young users on their platforms.