A federal court on Monday approved thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta, Google, Snapchat, TikTok, and other social media platforms over claims that their platforms are addictive to young users.

The cases accuse the tech giants of using features that encourage prolonged use of social media among children and teenagers, which increases addiction and mental stress.

The San-Francisco 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an attempt by TikTok and Meta to clear the case at an early stage after they sought to overturn a lower court ruling.

The dismissal allowed more than 3,000 lawsuits to be filed in federal courts.

However, these companies argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects firms from lawsuits over content posted on their platforms, they also claimed that the law protects their claims that they failed to warn the public about the addictive nature of these platforms.

The court said that Section 230 provides a defence against liability but does not give the firms immunity from being sued.

The ruling cannot establish whether these firms are solely responsible for addictions by young users. Instead, it allows the case to continue through the legal process.

The allegations were filed by individuals, families, school districts, and states who claim that these apps have contributed to several mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety among other issues in young users.

The court also denied Meta’s request to postpone a trial brought by 29 U.S. state attorneys general, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

The attorneys general alleged that Meta illegally used children’s data in designing its platforms like Facebook and Instagram to keep young users addicted.

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google guilty for designing platforms that harmed young users.

The jury awarded a young woman $6 million, who alleged that she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube while growing up.