Social Media Companies Unable to Shake Schools’ Nuisance Claims

School systems from 15 states may proceed with their claims that social media platforms offered by Meta Platforms Inc., Google LLC, and Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. create a public nuisance, a federal court said.

This is the latest ruling by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, who is overseeing hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Google’s YouTube, and ByteDance’s TikTok and Snap have profited from the addiction of young people to their products.

The school systems said that the companies purposefully addict young children ...