Florida Teen Withdraws Lawsuit Against Meta Platforms

A 15-year-old boy from Florida has dropped his lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, just days before a trial was set to begin in Los Angeles. The lawsuit, which was one of thousands consolidated in California state court, alleged that Meta’s social media apps caused the teen’s depression and anxiety.

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Background on the Lawsuit

The lawsuit, brought by a plaintiff known as R.K.C., originally named four defendants: Google’s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram, Snap Inc’s Snapchat, and ByteDance’s TikTok. However, YouTube and TikTok settled with R.K.C. in June, with the terms of those settlements remaining confidential. It has now been confirmed that Snap Inc’s Snapchat has also settled with R.K.C.

According to a statement from R.K.C.’s attorneys, the decision to drop the lawsuit against Meta was made due to the ‘overall successful result of the litigation’ and concerns about the ‘grueling weeks-long trial.’ The attorneys stated that R.K.C. is ‘ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life.’

Meta’s Response

A spokesperson for Meta stated that R.K.C. had dropped the claims against the company without receiving any payment. Meta also emphasized that the claims ‘never held up,’ and that the outcome makes clear that the company ‘will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.’

Lawsuits Against Social Media Companies

More than 3,300 lawsuits alleging social media platforms are addictive and harmful to young users are pending in California state court. R.K.C.’s case is among a small group selected as bellwethers. Attorneys often use bellwether verdicts to gauge how juries may view similar claims, helping them assess the potential value of remaining cases and guide settlement negotiations.

Another 2,600 cases making similar claims, brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities, and states, are pending in California federal court. In addition, nearly every state attorney general has sued social media companies in their own state courts. The lawsuits accuse the companies of misrepresenting the safety of their platforms for young users and of designing them to addict children.

The companies have denied the allegations and say they take extensive steps to keep teens and young users safe on their platforms.

Previous Trials

The first trial in California state court, which ended in March, was in the case of a woman who said she became addicted to social media platforms at a young age due to their attention-grabbing design. TikTok and Snap settled that case before trial. Meta and Google went to trial, and a jury ultimately found the companies negligent, ordering Meta to pay $4.2 million in damages and Google to pay $1.8 million. In June, the judge rejected the companies’ bid to set aside that verdict.

The first trial in federal court had been set to begin in June in a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district against Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube. All of the companies settled before trial, paying the district a combined $27 million.