Social Media MDL Judge Allows Negligence Claims to Proceed Against Platform Owners

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge has ruled that neither Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act nor the First Amendment shields social media platform owners from negligence claims accusing them of using “products” such as image filters to manipulate content and addict young people.

In a Nov. 14 order, Judge Yvonne G. Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California explained that defendants Meta Platforms Inc., ByteDance Inc., Snap Inc. and YouTube LLC have a duty to design their products in a reasonably safe manner and to warn about their risks.

However, the judge …