BOSTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms ( META ) must

face a lawsuit by Massachusetts alleging the social media

company purposely deployed features on its Instagram platform to

addict young users and deceived the public about the dangers it

posed to the mental health of teenagers, a judge ruled.

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp in Boston,

in a decision made public on Friday, rejected Meta's request to

dismiss claims by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy

Campbell that it violated state consumer protection law and

created a public nuisance.

The company argued that the state's case was barred by

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a federal

law that broadly shields internet companies from lawsuits over

content posted by users.

Krupp said the law did not apply to false statements Meta

allegedly made about the safety of Instagram, its efforts to

protect its young users' well-being or its age-verification

systems to ensure people under age 13 stay off the platform.

He said allegations concerning the negative impacts of

Instagram's design features were likewise not barred because the

state was "principally seeking to hold Meta liable for its own

business conduct," not content posted by third parties.

Meta and a spokesperson for Campbell had no immediate

comment. Meta has denied wrongdoing, saying it has developed

numerous tools to support parents and teens using Instagram.

The ruling came days after a federal judge in California on

Tuesday rejected a request by the Facebook and Instagram

operator to dismiss lawsuits by more than 30 states accusing it

of fueling mental health problems among teens by making its

social media platforms addictive.

Massachusetts was one of a handful of states that pursued

separate claims in state court, rather than federal, when it

sued in October 2023.

It became one of the higher profile lawsuits because of

allegations it first aired about how CEO Mark Zuckerberg had

been dismissive of concerns that aspects of Instagram could have

a harmful effect on its users.

The lawsuit alleged that features on Instagram such as push

notifications, "likes" of user posts and a never-ending scroll

were designed to profit off of teens' psychological

vulnerabilities and their "fear of missing out."

The state alleged that internal data showed the platform was

addicting and harming children, yet top executives rejected

changes its research showed would improve teens' well-being.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot

and Alexia Garamfalvi)