By Isaiah Poritz | Bloomberg

Meta Platforms Inc., Google, TikTok and Snap will have to face off lawsuits brought by school districts in federal court blames their “addictive” apps for contributing to a mental health crisis among students.

The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, Calif., follows a contrasting June 7 ruling by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in favor of the companies. The split leaves the platforms potentially on the hook for damages in more than 150 cases before Rogers even as they stand to avoid liability for claims in more than 600 other cases filed in Los Angeles.

Rogers generally denied a motion to dismiss the negligence claims, but limited the scope of allegations that will proceed. She concluded that some claims are barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a longstanding federal law that shields Internet companies from lawsuits.

Google and Meta spokespeople denied wrongdoing and said their companies have taken steps to keep young users safe on the platforms. Snap also cited its safety initiatives and pointed to research showing its Snapchat has a positive impact on users’ well-being. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The decision comes just over a week after Rogers ruled that Meta must face a lawsuit by dozens of state prosecutors who allege it knowingly hooked children on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. TikTok faces similar claims from a coalition of states. Both companies have denied wrongdoing.

The companies also face significant exposure from hundreds of personal injury suits that accuse them of designing their platforms to encourage young people to spend unhealthy amounts of time on screens. But the school drops could carry greater potential financial damage as each district tries to recoup institutional costs from the negative consequences of having hundreds of individual students caught up in social media.

The school districts argued that the companies engineered their platforms to be addictive to children by using algorithms and features like the “like” button, in ways that harm society — similar to cigarette makers who designed their products to be addictive.

“Compulsive Use”