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Eight people filed the lawsuit in the Federal Court of Australia, the country\u2019s second-highest court, seeking compensation for exposure to harmful content or social media addiction they experienced before turning 18, law firm MinterEllison said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The case could be the first lawsuit in Australia to hold social media platforms responsible for the harmful effects of their services on users, particularly children and teenagers.<\/p>\n
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Read more: Greek Under-15s Face Losing Instagram as Parliament Weighs Ban<\/p>\n
The Sydney-based court issued an order on Monday prohibiting the disclosure of details about the proceedings or the identities of the class-action plaintiffs, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
In August, Meta agreed to pay just over $17 billion in the United States to settle a lawsuit that accused the American company of deliberately designing its platforms to encourage addiction among young users.<\/p>\n
The Australian case comes amid growing tensions between the government and major technology companies following the country\u2019s world-first ban on social media use by children under 16. The government has also recently proposed rules that would allow users to disable algorithmic feeds.<\/p>\n