Google’s YouTube settles over social media harm to kids

YouTube and its parent company Google have settled with a minor who claimed the platform harmed his mental health, ahead of a second hearing into allegations that the social media site’s design is fueling a mental health crisis in young people.

Terms of the settlement of the case in state court are confidential, lawyers said Tuesday.

Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement that the case was resolved amicably and “our focus remains on creating age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on this promise.”

The lawsuit, filed by the plaintiff known as RKC, was chosen as the second trial testing claims from people who say they were harmed by the design of social media platforms such as Meta’s Instagram, Snap Inc’s Snapchat and ByteDance’s TikTok. The lawsuit was scheduled to take place in July against Meta, Snap and TikTok.

More than 3,300 lawsuits involving addiction allegations are pending in California state court against social media companies. Another 2,600 lawsuits filed by individuals, school districts, municipalities and states are pending in California federal court.

The first hearing, which ended in March, involved a woman who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram accounts at a young age because of their eye-catching designs. The jury found the companies negligent and awarded Meta $4.2 million in damages and Google $1.8 million.

Earlier this month, the judge rejected the companies’ bid to vacate that decision.

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