Products Liability Law Reporter

A federal district court held that dismissal of personal fraudulent and negligent concealment and misrepresentation claims against Mark Zuckerberg in over two dozen multidistrict litigation cases was warranted.

At least two dozen plaintiffs sought to hold Mark Zuckerberg liable as a corporate officer participant in Meta’s alleged fraudulent concealment and misrepresentation and negligent concealment and misrepresentation relating to the negative health effects of Facebook on children. Zuckerberg moved to dismiss as to his direct liability. The court granted the motion but granted the plaintiffs leave to amend to file one consolidated addendum. In the plaintiffs’ addendum, they alleged that Zuckerberg had control over platform development, was aware of safety risks, rejected proposed resource allocations to child safety and well-being, and made public representations regarding platform safety. The plaintiffs asserted that Zuckerberg directed, sanctioned, or participated in Meta’s concealment of the addictive design of its platforms and known risk of platform use.

Granting the motion, the court said that while the plaintiffs’ generalized allegations are compelling, they are insufficient in that they fail to allege any instance where Zuckerberg directed the suppression of material information. For instance, the court reasoned, there is no allegation that Zuckerberg directed an employee to suppress an internal report that was going to be disclosed. Citing case law, the court said that control alone is inadequate to establish participation by a corporate officer. Moreover, Zuckerberg’s alleged rejection of well-being initiatives and his alleged promotion of Meta’s social media products to teens are consistent with a theory that he chose to suppress recognition of Meta platforms’ negative mental health impact—but this does not constitute an authorization or sanctioning of the concealment of information. Zuckerberg’s generalized control over his company, product development, and messaging does not prove that he specifically sanctioned corporate concealment by Meta, the court concluded.

Citation: In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Prods. Liab. Litig., 2024 WL 4719068 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2024).