A federal appeals court refused to dismiss thousands of lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat, allowing complaints alleging the platforms were designed to be addictive to young users to move forward. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok attempting to overturn a lower court ruling requiring the firms to face more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in federal court, ruling the companies appealed too early. Section 230 has largely protected several companies from lawsuits regarding content posted on their platforms. The court's decision clears the way for lawsuits alleging social media companies designed platforms to encourage addictive behavior, failed to verify users' ages and did not adequately block harmful content. In March, a jury in California ruled against Meta and Google's YouTube, while a jury in New Mexico ruled against Meta on child safety risks.