Facebook Lawsuit

There were 3,824 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The social media MDL grew to 3,208 pending actions.

Meta reached a large settlement with 47 states and U.S. territories. The company has agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion dollars in penalties and make serious changes to its products, aimed at lessening their impacts on children.

Meta was ordered to pay another $567 million over claims that the company knew its platforms were harming children. Previously, the social media company was ordered to pay $375 million to the state in March. The latest payment will go toward funding treatment and preventing future harm to children in New Mexico.

The social media MDL grew to 3,137 pending actions.

There were 2,893 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The social media MDL grew to 2,664 pending actions.

There were 2,527 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The social media MDL grew to 2,465 pending actions.

In the first social media lawsuit bellwether trial, a California jury found Meta and Google liable for the mental health issues of a woman who used social media compulsively as a child. Meta and Google were ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. The jury ruled that Meta’s apps (Facebook, etc.) were deliberately designed to be problematic and the company has failed to protect its young users.

A New Mexico jury found Meta liable for claims brought by the State of New Mexico under the Unfair Practices Act. They ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties. Meta was held liable for endangering children by misleading consumers about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.  Motley Rice represented the State of New Mexico as outside trial counsel in this litigation.

There are 2,407 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The social media MDL increased to 2,325 pending cases.

More organizations and individuals filed lawsuits in the social media MDL throughout December. The number of pending cases reached 2,243.

More plaintiffs joined the MDL throughout November. There are now 2,191 pending cases.

More than 100 new lawsuits were filed in the MDL, bringing the total to 2,172. 

Attorneys for New York City withdrew from a lawsuit in California state court, then filed a similar lawsuit to join the federal social media MDL. The city’s complaint alleges that features of popular social media apps led to teen mental health issues. The apps’ features led to violations of local negligence and public nuisance laws.

The lawsuit also says social media companies, including Facebook owner Meta Platforms, failed to warn the public of potential mental health risks. The defendants’ actions have drained government resources that can help teens manage their mental health issues, city attorneys said. 

More plaintiffs joined the Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL. It now has 2,053 pending actions.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl ruled against social media companies’ efforts to prevent expert testimony. Attorneys representing social media companies argued that allowing the experts to testify would violate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Judge Kuhl ruled that testimony that focuses on app features would be admissible. Testimony related to third-party content may not be admissible.

The judge also dismissed defendants’ claims that the testimony should be barred according to the Sargon standard, which requires that expert testimony have a scientific basis.  Facebook owner Meta Platforms, one of the defendants.

The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of Oklahoma joined the social media mental health MDL. Attorneys representing both tribes claim the added burden of social media-related mental health issues will jeopardize the two nations’ underfunded welfare and health programs. Facebook owner Meta Platforms is one of several social media companies named as defendants in the MDL.

Judge Kuhl denied defendants’ request to remove plaintiff Jaime Loach from the social media mental health lawsuit currently in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Attorneys for social media companies claimed her lawsuit was outside the statute of limitations. They also argued that Loach should’ve realized from news coverage in The Washington Post and Vice that problematic social media use could lead to diminished mental health.

Kuhl decided that a jury should decide on the media coverage question. She also ruled that Loach’s suspicion of the defendants’ wrongdoing fell within the statute of limitations. Loach is scheduled to be the third bellwether plaintiff in the MDL. This plaintiff is not represented by Motley Rice.
 

The Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL now has 1,961 pending actions.

There were 1,922 pending actions in the Social Media Addiction MDL.

Minnesotans might see pop-up warnings alerting consumers to the dangers of social media. State legislators passed a bill that will require people to acknowledge the warning before accessing social media content.

The warnings are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026, though social media companies may challenge the bill. 
 

There were 1,867 pending actions in the Social Media Addiction MDL.

The federal government is facing a lawsuit for stopping $200 million earmarked for states to support school mental health programs. Sixteen states filed the suit jointly after the federal government discontinued congressionally awarded grants intended to fund 14,000 permanent mental health programs at schools. These programs are often the first line of help for kids in need of social media-related treatment and counseling. California alone will lose $200 million in resources.  
 

The social media MDL judge selected the first bellwether trials. Five cases were chosen for individual trials and six were chosen for school district trials. Motley Rice attorneys represent some of the chosen plaintiffs.

The Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL increased to 1,814 pending actions.

The Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL grew to 1,787 pending actions.

There were 1,745 pending actions in the MDL.

The Corpus Christi Independent School District joined more than 40 other school districts statewide in the social media MDL. The district also regulates smartwatch and cellphone use during the school day. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade can’t use their devices during the school day. High school students are allowed to use cellphones only during lunch and between classes. 

A former Meta executive, Sarah Wynn-Williams who wrote a memoir "Careless People" critical of the company will be allowed to testify as part of the MDL. U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter H. Kang ruled against Meta’s argument that her knowledge wasn’t relevant to personal injury and that plaintiffs’ counsel waited too long to get her testimony.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that litigation alleging social media apps and sites are public nuisances may go forward. The judge’s ruling prevents the MDL from pausing while higher courts review claims that the apps are public nuisances. Granting the social media companies’ requests for interlocutory appeal would cause the MDL to “quickly splinter and fragment.”

A lawsuit filed by more than 60 families claims Snapchat’s features expose children to drug dealers. Depending on the verdicts, it’s possible that these cases could impact social networks’ defenses built on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Lawyers for social media companies have used Section 230 to avoid being held liable for user-generated content.

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she will allow “non-priority” claims related to general negligence, loss of consortium, survival and wrongful death to proceed in the MDL. The judge dismissed separate claims related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ recent dismissal order said that non-priority claims can proceed. General negligence, wrongful death, survival and loss of consortium are examples of non-priority claims. 

Pending actions continued to grow in the MDL, bringing the total number to 1,464 as of March 2025.

The Houston Independent School District board voted to join the social media mental health MDL against Facebook and other platforms. Citing harms to students’ mental health and attention spans, the district seeks compensation from the social media companies.

Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram are facing a mental health lawsuit from San Diego County. The lawsuit claims that these platforms make earning a profit a priority over everything else, including the health of social media users. TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube are also named in the lawsuit. The county hopes to force social media companies to remove dangerous features from their platforms and pay for additional mental health resources.

More cases continued to be added to the Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL. There were 1,246 pending actions, including those against Meta's Facebook.

Milwaukee Public Schools, the largest school district in Wisconsin, joined other school districts from across the U.S. in suing social media companies. The districts’ lawsuits claim that the social media platforms contribute to a youth mental health crisis.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and several other social media companies. The tribe’s lawsuit in the Northern District of California claims that social media companies are contributing to mental health crises among its youth. The tribe’s allegations also fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

More cases were filed in the MDL that includes Facebook lawsuits, bringing the total number of claims to 974.

December 2024: More parents and young people impacted by social media platforms filed lawsuits in the MDL. Total active cases rose to 815 as of December 2.
November 2024: More people suffering from social media addiction filed cases, bringing the total number of actions in the MDL to 620.
September 2024: The actions pending continued to grow. As of September 3, the number of actions pending in the social media harm MDL (MDL No. 3047) had risen to 584. 
August 2024: MDL No. 3047 grew to 557 actions pending. 
July 2024: MDL No. 3047 had 499 actions pending.
June 2024: MDL No. 3047 had 475 actions pending. 
May 2024: MDL No. 3047 had 455 actions pending.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, is not personally liable in lawsuits alleging that social media companies deliberately addicted children to social media. The judge didn’t find enough specific evidences to establish Zuckerberg’s personal liability. 

On October 24, 2024, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Meta must face lawsuits filed by state attorneys general (AGs). Attorneys for Meta attempted to have the lawsuits dismissed. Judge Gonzalez Rogers dismissed some parts of the state claims under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but she will allow other claims in the lawsuits to proceed.

On October 15, 2024, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that school district lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies could proceed. She excluded some claims based on a law that protects social media companies that make good-faith efforts to address problematic content. 

On September 9, 2024, Judge Neal Kravitz denied Meta’s motion to dismiss an ongoing lawsuit in the District of Columbia. In Meta’s filed motion, the tech company claimed protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. 

Judge Kravitz explained in his decision that the lawsuit against Meta concerned design features of the platform, not third-party content. Because of this distinction, Section 230 offered no protection to the tech giant. Meta has until September 23, 2024, to file an answer to the complaint.

The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy previously proposed adding official warnings to social media platforms to protect young users. On September 9, 2024, the attorneys general of 42 states and U.S. territories sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to pass legislation and implement the surgeon general’s proposal. 

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers partially rejected the Defendants’ motion to dismiss. The Defendants sought immunity under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Claims about harmful platform features, like filtered images without transparent warnings, remain a part of the lawsuit and will be treated as product defects. Other design defects that remain in the case include failure to offer usage limits, an adequate age verification process, effective parental controls and disruptive notifications. 

The attorneys general of 41 states filed lawsuits against Meta and Instagram for their contributions to the mental health crisis in the United States. 

A Conditional Transfer Order added more cases to the MDL. As of July 2023, the total number of cases was over 100. 

The plaintiffs submitted an amended master complaint. 

A Direct Filing Order for the master complaint and short form complaint were agreed on. This order allows the plaintiffs to skip filing in their home jurisdiction, and instead file directly in the MDL court to avoid delays.
Master complaint: February 14, 2023, marked the deadline for the plaintiffs to file their master complaint. 
Short-form complaint: February 28, 2023, was the deadline for the proposed short-form complaint. A short-form complaint is a simplified version of the master complaint that outlines the essential allegations and claims in the case and to streamline the process for filing a lawsuit. 

A second case management conference occurred in December 2022. As a result of the conference, the plaintiffs and defendants agreed on a timeline for filing documents in the case. 

The Court held its inaugural case management conference. Following the conference, Motley Rice media and tech attorney Previn Warren was appointed by the Court as co-lead counsel. 

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) entered a Transfer Order to consolidate a growing number of social media harm lawsuits. In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation MDL No. 3047 was assigned to the Northern District of California.