Meta and Zuckerberg Triumph in Child Safety Disclosure Lawsuit

Meta Platforms (META) and CEO Mark Zuckerberg triumphed against a class action lawsuit filed for child safety disclosure on the social media giant’s Facebook and Instagram apps. US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco dismissed the lawsuit in its entirety yesterday. The judge said that the lead plaintiff Matt Eisner failed to show that he had suffered economic losses from Meta’s alleged inadequate disclosures on child safety.

Moreover, the judge stated that Meta did not break any federal securities laws and was not required to mention details of the severity of sexually explicit content and sexual exploitation of children on its platforms. Also, Meta is not required to disclose all the child protection strategies that it chooses not to follow. Tuesday’s dismissal was ruled with prejudice, which implies that Eisner cannot sue Meta and Zuckerberg again.

Implications of Failure for Meta

Had the plaintiff won yesterday, the lawsuit would have blocked Meta’s 2024 annual meeting until the proxy statement on child safety was amended and made the election results void. It would have also made the company pay for Eisner’s legal fees and expenses.

While this case is over, Meta still has several pending lawsuits accusing the social media company of child addiction to its apps. Some lawsuits filed by children and parents and school districts have alleged that Meta and other players such as TikTok, Snapchat (SNAP), and others cause social media addiction.

Is META Stock a Buy?

Analysts are highly bullish about Meta Platforms stock owing to its well-established business model. On TipRanks, META stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 42 Buys, four Holds, and one Sell rating. The average Meta Platforms price target of $627.02 implies 7.7% upside potential from current levels. Year-to-date, META shares have gained 64.9%.

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