Meta, Snap Reach Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Settlement on Eve of Trial

Case was supposed to be the second in a series of bellwether trials being held in California state court over addiction claims against the social media companies.

Two major social media companies have agreed to resolve claims by individuals who say the platforms were designed to foster addiction among young users.

The defendants, Meta and Snap, as well as companies like TikTok and others face thousands of such social media lawsuits in state and federal courts nationwide. Filed by individuals, families, school districts and state governments, these complaints allege the companies deliberately designed their apps to attract minors and encourage addictive behavior.

Critics argue that features such as infinite scrolling, algorithms that track children’s online behavior and constant push notifications encourage compulsive social media use. Research has also raised concerns about associations between excessive social media use and depression, anxiety, eating disorders, behavioral problems, poor academic performance, suicidal thoughts and self-harm among children and teenagers.

States and school districts also claim that growing concerns about youth social media addiction have strained public resources, requiring additional funding for counseling, tutoring and other support services.

Amid the growing litigation, Meta agreed in August to a proposed $17 billion settlement with a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general. The agreement would require Facebook and Instagram to implement additional protections for young users and establish a framework that other social media companies could potentially join.

However, that proposed agreement was intended to resolve claims brought by state governments and does not provide compensation to individuals or families pursuing personal injury lawsuits over social media addiction and related mental health problems. Those claims are being pursued separately, with Meta and other social media companies now beginning to reach settlements in individual cases.

Social Media Addiction Bellwether Trials

Both at the state and federal level, a series of social media addiction “bellwether” trials are underway. Courts and attorneys are looking to these trials to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that would be key features in most claims.

One of those trials was scheduled to be held in California state court starting this week, involving claims by two individuals whose identities have been kept anonymous. This frequently happens when the plaintiffs are, or were, minors when the alleged offenses occurred.

Originally, the lawsuit included Meta, Snap, TikTok, Google and its YouTube subsidiary as defendants. However, before last week, Google and TikTok reached settlements with the plaintiffs, removing themselves from the litigation, leaving only Meta and Snap to face the remaining claims.

On Friday, Meta announced that it had reached a settlement agreement that would resolve its role in the case but did not reveal any details about the settlement agreement. On Monday, Snap, the owners of Snapchat, made a similar announcement.

The announcements mean that the trial, which was expected to begin on Wednesday and carry through until nearly Christmas, is no longer necessary.

Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Trials

The first bellwether trial in California state court ended in March when a jury ordered Meta and Google to pay $6 million to a woman who alleged she developed anxiety and depression after becoming addicted to social media as a minor. Another trial in a claim filed by the state of New Mexico also ended in March, resulting in a $375 million verdict against Meta, saying the company contributed to teen social media addiction and the resulting adverse mental health effects.

The first federal bellwether trial was set to begin in June, involving claims by the Breathitt County School District, which Meta also settled right before trial began.

While these trials and settlements do not directly impact the thousands of other remaining youth social media addiction lawsuits, they could help form the basis of additional settlement agreements. Alternately, they could help lead to some kind of global settlement that would resolve all or most of the litigation.

If no such agreement is reached, courts nationwide would have to hold thousands of expensive and time-consuming trials that could result in massive verdicts against the defendants.

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