Meta Platforms has settled with a teen plaintiff who accused the company of designing Instagram and Facebook to be addictive, causing her mental health problems and disordered eating, attorneys for the plaintiff said on Friday. The settlement came after jury selection began on Wednesday for a trial that was slated to test the claims of two teens, identified as S.J. and K.D.B., against Meta and Snapchat parent Snap Inc.
Meta had settled with S.J. days before the trial, so Friday's settlement with K.D.B. means the trial is expected to proceed against Snap only. "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, an attorney for K.D.B., said in a statement.
The trial is the second in Los Angeles state court over claims brought by young people who say they became addicted to social media. S.J. and K.D.B. had previously settled with TikTok and Alphabet.
The case was selected among thousands of pending lawsuits as a test case, so the jury's verdict could influence how companies resolve similar cases. S.J., a 16-year-old girl from Illinois, and K.D.B., an 18-year-old from Mississippi, say they began using the platforms as children.
The companies have rejected claims their platforms were designed to addict young people, stating they have taken action to make apps safe places for self-expression. Social media companies face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging they knowingly sought to addict children, contributing to a youth mental health crisis involving anxiety, depression, and suicide.
In the first case to go to trial, which ended in March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and others liable. In August, Meta struck settlements worth up to $18 billion with nearly every US state to resolve lawsuits over platform harm to teens, agreeing to change how Instagram and Facebook function for minors.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion penalty after a jury found the company misled Facebook users about data privacy and hate speech. The company has said it will appeal.