Meta avoids upcoming social media addiction trial
▼ Summary
– A 15-year-old Florida plaintiff dropped a case against Meta just before trial, accusing the platform of harming teens through addictive features.
– The plaintiff, identified as R.K.C., had previously settled similar claims with TikTok, Snap, and YouTube for undisclosed amounts.
– Meta avoided paying a settlement, with its spokesperson calling the lawsuit baseless.
– Meta and Google’s YouTube lost the first bellwether trial, ordered to pay $6 million in damages for negligence.
– Seven more bellwether cases remain in California state court, and Meta faces federal claims from state attorneys general next month.
Just days before Meta’s legal team was scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom, the teenager who accused the company of causing harm decided to walk away from the case. The plaintiff, a 15-year-old from Florida identified only by the initials R.K.C., had been preparing to face Meta in what would have been the second bellwether trial designed to test whether social media platforms broke the law by engineering features that allegedly addicted and injured young users.
TikTok, Snap, and YouTube had already settled similar claims from R. K. C. for undisclosed sums. “In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weekslong trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta,” stated R. K. C.’s attorneys, Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi. “He’s ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life.” As a result, Meta avoided paying any settlement in this instance. “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.
Meta managed to exit this case without paying a settlement
Multiple lawsuits have already begun testing allegations that social media companies misled users about product safety and caused real harm. In the first bellwether trial held at that same courthouse, Meta and Google’s YouTube were found negligent by a jury, which ordered them to pay a combined $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a single plaintiff. Separately, a New Mexico jury imposed a $375 million penalty on Meta, and the state is now preparing for the next trial phase, which could demand structural changes to the business.
Seven more bellwether cases remain scheduled in the California state courthouse in Los Angeles, alongside a separate set of lawsuits pending in federal court in Oakland. Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube recently settled with a school district that was set to be the first in that federal group, with the district seeking funds to cover mental health costs linked to platform use. Meta still faces claims from state attorneys general in federal court next month, who allege the company illegally misled the public about harmful and potentially addictive features.
(Source: The Verge)
