Story perspectives

9th Circuit Rejects Section 230 for Meta, Google, TikTok

8/14/2026

Summary

Story summary

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed over 3,000 lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap, rejecting their Section 230 immunity claim.
The court denied Meta’s request to postpone the Wednesday trial in Oakland, where Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers presides.
Plaintiffs—states, municipalities, school districts and individuals—assert the platforms addict youth and worsen mental health, citing earlier rulings that ordered a $567 million New Mexico mental-health fund and a $6 million jury award.

History

Historical Context

Congress enacted Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed its broad immunity in the 1997 Zeran v. AOL decision. That precedent guided later rulings, but the Ninth Circuit’s 2026 opinion rejecting immunity for Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap shows the doctrine’s limits as courts now scrutinize platform-generated addiction claims.

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Story summary

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed over 3,000 lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap, rejecting their Section 230 immunity claim.
The court denied Meta’s request to postpone the Wednesday trial in Oakland, where Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers presides.
Plaintiffs—states, municipalities, school districts and individuals—assert the platforms addict youth and worsen mental health, citing earlier rulings that ordered a $567 million New Mexico mental-health fund and a $6 million jury award.

1 / 2