Meta on Friday reached a settlement with a teen plaintiff, identified in court documents as K.D.B., who claimed the company’s platforms, Instagram and Facebook, were addictive and caused her mental health problems, attorneys for the plaintiff said.The news comes just one day after the tech giant reached a settlement with S.J., the second teen plaintiff who had sued the company over similar claims.
The terms of the settlement agreements with both plaintiffs are confidential.In the weeks leading up to trial, TikTok and YouTube reached agreements to resolve the claims brought against them by both S.J.and K.D.B.“We remain committed to improving safety for kids on social media apps and holding tech companies accountable, and we are pleased to have brought this matter to a just resolution on behalf of our client,” Emily Jeffcott, trial counsel for K.D.B., said in a statement.Snap Inc.
now remains the lone defendant in the trial, which began this week in Los Angeles with jury selection.Opening arguments are slated for Nov.
4.In their lawsuit, K.D.B.
and S.J.allege that Snap, the maker of Snapchat, designed features that would maximize the time young users spend on the app.
Those features include Snapstreaks, Snapscores and filters that can trigger compulsive use of Snapchat, leading to severe mental and physical health issues like self-harm.00:44Meta settles social media addiction lawsuit for $18 billion00:0000:00Their case is the fourth bellweather in a consolidated group of cases brought against Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snap by more than 1,600 plaintiffs, including over 350 families and over 250 school districts.
The plaintiffs accuse the tech companies of knowingly designing addictive products harmful to young users’ mental health.Historically, social media platforms have largely been shielded by Section 230, a provision added to the Communications Act of 1934 that says internet companies aren’t liable for the content users post.Meta, which owns...