Meta avoids next trial over alleged social media addiction harms
A teen plaintiff withdrew claims against Meta after settlements with TikTok, Snap and YouTube, leaving other social media cases still pending.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Meta will not face the next planned bellwether trial over claims that social media products harmed teens, after a 15-year-old Florida plaintiff withdrew his case, The Verge reported. The move removes one near-term courtroom test for Meta, though broader litigation over youth safety and allegedly addictive features continues in state and federal courts.
The plaintiff, identified in court by the initials R.K.C., had accused Meta of causing harm through its platform, according to The Verge. The case was scheduled to proceed in a Los Angeles courtroom less than a week before it was dropped.
The lawsuit was intended to be the second bellwether trial in a group of cases testing legal arguments that major social media companies allegedly violated the law by designing features that kept teens engaged and harmed them, according to The Verge.
Plaintiff drops Meta claims after other settlements
R.K.C. had already resolved related claims against TikTok, Snap and YouTube for amounts that were not disclosed, The Verge reported. His attorneys, Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi, said in a statement that he chose to withdraw the remaining claims against Meta after those outcomes and because of concerns about going through a weeks-long trial.
Jeffcott and Ravipudi said R.K.C. was ready to end this part of the litigation, focus on recovery and continue therapy. The withdrawal means Meta did not pay a settlement in this case, according to The Verge.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement posted on Threads that the claims did not withstand scrutiny and that the result showed the company would keep defending itself against lawsuits it views as baseless.
Other cases continue
The dropped case follows an earlier bellwether trial in the same Los Angeles courthouse, where a jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent, The Verge reported. The jury ordered the companies to pay a combined $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages to one plaintiff.
Meta has also faced a separate loss in New Mexico, where a jury ordered the company to pay a $375 million penalty, according to The Verge. The state is preparing for another trial phase in which it is seeking structural changes to Meta’s business, The Verge reported.
Seven additional bellwether cases remain scheduled in the California state court in Los Angeles, according to The Verge. A separate group of cases is pending in federal court in Oakland.
In that federal track, Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube previously settled with a school district that had been set to bring the first bellwether case seeking money for mental health-related costs allegedly tied to the platforms, The Verge reported.
Meta is also scheduled to face claims from state attorneys general in federal court next month, according to The Verge. Those officials allege that Meta illegally misled the public about harmful and allegedly addictive features.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.