A 15-year-old Florida teenager who accused Meta of creating addictive and harmful social media features dropped his bellwether lawsuit against the company on Wednesday, in a reprieve for the internet giant in its legal battles against teenagers, school districts and state attorneys general.
The case was the second of nine major social media addiction cases that could expose Meta, Google’s YouTube and other internet companies to financial damages and force changes to their products. The cases were picked by a California Superior Court judge from thousands of similar lawsuits and were viewed as the strongest representing a potential class action against Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as against TikTok, Snap and YouTube.
TikTok, Snap and YouTube had settled similar claims with the Florida teenager, identified only by his initials as R.K.C., ahead of the trial, which was scheduled to begin next week in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
Emily Jeffcott, a lawyer representing R.K.C., said he dropped the lawsuit because he was satisfied with the settlements and had concerns about “enduring a grueling weekslong trial.” She added, “We’re proud of what this case has helped accomplish.”
In a statement, Meta said: “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”
The move follows Meta’s loss in March in the same court against a California woman, now age 20, who had accused the company and YouTube of negligence and personal injury for their addictive features. A jury found the companies guilty of harming her with the design of their platforms and awarded her $6 million in damages.
The success of that case validated a novel legal theory that social media sites or apps can cause personal injury, opening giant internet companies to major financial damages. The Florida teenager’s move Wednesday to drop his suit could mean that litigation against social media giants may not be as straightforward as previously thought.
Meta, YouTube and others face thousands of lawsuits filed by teenagers, school districts and state attorneys general accusing them of creating addictive features like infinite scroll that led to compulsive use and severe mental health distress.
This month, Meta said in a court filing that four states were seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties at their trial in August in Oakland, Calif., for addicting young users. That would be nearly Meta’s entire market capitalization, which stands at around $1.5 trillion.
In March, Meta also lost a separate trial in New Mexico, where the state’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, sued the company for violating consumer protection laws and endangering children who were approached by adults. A jury awarded the state $375 million in compensatory damages. The court is still determining punitive damages.
The cases have put a spotlight on the social media companies’ policies on child safety, exposing unflattering emails and other internal documents in court that showed leaders like Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, ignored employee warnings of harmful features for children.
Pressure for social media companies to tighten protections for children has mounted. Congress is debating the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that would force design changes to social media platforms to limit compulsive use. Tech executives are expected to testify in a hearing later this year on child safety.
