Supreme Court Lets Vermont Lawsuit Against Meta Proceed

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from Meta Platforms, allowing a lawsuit filed by Vermont’s attorney general to proceed. The suit alleges the company designed its Instagram app to be addictive for young users. The justices’ decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that rejected Meta’s argument that Vermont courts lack jurisdiction over the case.

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark filed the lawsuit in 2023 under the state’s consumer protection law. The complaint asserts that Instagram was engineered to exploit teenagers’ psychological and neurological vulnerabilities to foster compulsive use and maximize advertising revenue. It further claims Meta intentionally misled consumers about the platform’s safety and addictive nature. The state argues the company’s actions have contributed to mental health harms among young people.

Meta has denied any wrongdoing. The company sought to dismiss the case, arguing that Vermont has no basis for jurisdiction because the alleged design decisions and communications did not originate within the state. Meta also contended that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would violate its due process rights under the 14th...