Washington: A US appeals court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to proceed against Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Snap Inc., over allegations that their products were designed to cause addiction among young users.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected an appeal by Meta and TikTok seeking to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to face more than 3,000 lawsuits pending in federal court, stating that the companies had appealed prematurely.

The lawsuits, filed by states, municipalities, school districts, and individuals, allege that the social media companies deliberately fostered addiction among youth, contributing to rising rates of depression, anxiety, body image issues, and a broader mental health crisis among American youth in recent years.