Social media addiction lawsuit against Meta is dropped
A high-profile social media addiction lawsuit against Meta has been dropped by the plaintiff without a settlement payment. This follows a series of legal challenges against major tech companies regarding the addictive nature of their platforms.
Why it matters
The dismissal provides a legal victory for Meta and may influence the trajectory of ongoing litigation regarding social media's impact on youth mental health.
A day after Snap tentatively settled with the plaintiff in a social media addiction lawsuit, leaving Meta as the only remaining defendant, the case has been dropped. In a statement, Meta said the plaintiff chose to drop his case against Meta without receiving any payment.
TikTok and Google’s YouTube had previously reached settlement agreements with the plaintiff. (Snap on Tuesday confirmed a tentative agreement had been reached.)
The bellwether jury trial had been set to begin next week in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles.
The plaintiff, a Florida teenager known by the initials “R.K.C.,” had sued the social media companies for creating addictive platforms. It was one of thousands of similar lawsuits from teens, schools, and state attorneys general that had accused the big tech companies of knowingly creating addictive platforms.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in