Meta, ByteDance Oppose Plaintiffs' Motions to Vacate Transfer Orders in MDL

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta cited “common questions of fact” in its Thursday opposition to plaintiffs’ V.V. and E.Q.’s April 6 memorandum (MDL No. 3047) in support of their motion to vacate a conditional transfer order (CTO-4) to Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation under Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.

The V.V. action should be transferred to the MDL because it involves theories of liability that overlap with the over 170 cases that have already been transferred to and centralized in MDL No. 3047, said Meta, a defendant in the V.V. suit along with Snap and two adult users. Transferring the case will “serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote judicial economy and consistency,” it said. Plaintiffs’ pending remand doesn’t justify vacating the CTO, it said.

Plaintiffs, on behalf of minor plaintiff C.O., allege C.O. suffered serious mental and physical harms from ages 10-15 while she was a heavy user of Instagram and Snapchat. During that time, she was connected to, messaged by and solicited for sexually graphic content and acts on numerous occasions by defendants Reginald Sharp and Eddie Rodriguez, adult users of Instagram and Snapchat, alleged the complaint.

The defendant “predators” were “encouraged and enabled by the dangerously defective design” of the social media platforms that “affirmatively connect and recommend prurient adults to vulnerable minors,” including C.O., through features such as the distribution of public profile settings, and direct messaging. The complaint cited social media platforms' "failure to verify" age, identity and parental consent of minor users.

Plaintiffs brought the lawsuit in the Superior Court of Connecticut, Fairfield District, in January, and Meta removed the action in March to U.S. District Court for Connecticut. Plaintiffs argued Meta didn’t assert diversity jurisdiction based on the fraudulent joinder rule but invoked the “controversial” doctrine of fraudulent misjoinder to argue Sharp and Rodriguez were improperly joined in the state court action. Meta’s opposition said even an argument that removal was improper doesn’t change that jurisdictional objections "aren’t relevant to transfer.”

Plaintiffs “immediately notified” Meta’s counsel of their intention to seek remand to state court, said the memorandum, but Meta “immediately filed a notice of potential tag-along actions” to MDL No. 3047, it said. An oral argument on the motion to remand is set for May 17. The Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) should defer its ruling for 30 days to allow the Connecticut District Court to rule on plaintiffs’ pending motion to remand before transferring the case to the MDL, said plaintiffs’ memorandum.

In another opposition to a conditional transfer order to MDL No. 3047, the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) filed a notice of opposition Thursday to CTO-7 on behalf of Long Island, New York, plaintiffs Dean Nasca and Michelle Nasca, who sued (docket 2:23-cv-2786) TikTok parent ByteDance in March for product liability in the death of their son, Chase.

ByteDance removed the lawsuit from New York State Supreme Court in Suffolk County to U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Central Islip April 13. On the same day, it filed a second notice of potential tag-along action with MDL No. 3047. The Nascas’ Thursday notice said they will file a motion to vacate CTO-7 transferring their suit to the multidistrict litigation.

The Nascas named ByteDance, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and Islip, New York, in the March liability lawsuit after the death of 16-year-old, Chase, who was killed by an LIRR train in February 2022. The suit alleges TikTok directed Chase to adult accounts with “highly depressive, violent, self-harm and suicide themed content.” On the day Chase died, he messaged a friend, saying, “I can’t do it anymore,” before being struck by a moving train. Eight months after Chase's death, TikTok was still "flooding" Chase's account with unsolicited suicide videos, said his parents.

The 11-count lawsuit claims unjust enrichment, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy by TikTok. It claims negligence, product liability and violation of consumer protection laws of New York by TikTok, the MTA and Islip, which plaintiffs allege created a “dangerous environment” in the area around the train track, leading to Chase’s death. Over the past 20 years, at least 30 people have been struck and killed by trains within a half mile of the intersection where Chase was killed, involving both suicide and accidental death, said SMVLC in a March news release.