Section 230 Does Not Bar Claims Against Meta, Instagram, Mass. Judge Rules

BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge has refused to dismiss the commonwealth’s lawsuit accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of using addictive design features to exploit children’s psychological vulnerabilities, ruling that the claims are not barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to the extent they target Instagram’s design features themselves, rather than third-party content.

In an Oct. 17 order, Judge Peter B. Krupp of the Suffolk County Superior Court explained that the commonwealth alleges physical and mental harm caused by Instagram’s design features, and not from the viewing of any specific third-party content or from design choices that contributed to …