Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Against Meta Is Dropped

After Snap’s preliminary settlement with the plaintiff in a case about social media addiction, Meta now stands as the only remaining defendant, and the case has been dropped. Meta announced that the plaintiff voluntarily discontinued the lawsuit against them without any compensation.

Earlier, TikTok and Google’s YouTube had settled with the plaintiff. (On Tuesday, Snap confirmed that a preliminary agreement had been reached.)

A bellwether jury trial was set to begin next week in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles.

The plaintiff, a Florida teenager identified as “R.K.C.,” initiated a lawsuit against social media companies for allegedly creating addictive platforms. This case was part of a broader series of lawsuits from teenagers, educational institutions, and state attorneys general, charging major tech companies with knowingly developing addictive applications.

The consequences of this lawsuit and similar ones could impact how these companies design their platforms, which are known for features that promote user engagement, such as infinite scrolling and persistent notifications.

The plaintiff’s decision to withdraw comes after Meta experienced a loss in a New Mexico lawsuit earlier this year, marking its first courtroom defeat related to social media harms. Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and for endangering children.

In March, a jury in Los Angeles also ruled against both Meta and Google, awarding approximately $6 million in damages to the plaintiff in that case.

Meta was prepared to argue that the plaintiff in this instance reportedly used Facebook and Instagram for only a few minutes per day on average, and intended to claim that most of his accounts were established after consulting a lawyer.

In its statement, Meta remarked, “this outcome underscores our commitment to defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”