Teenager drops social media addiction lawsuit against Meta
The Florida teenager, who filed a lawsuit against Meta, claiming that he was addicted to and harmed by his use of platforms such as Instagram, dropped his case.
The 15-year-old plaintiff, known by the initials RKC, settled the same claims against TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube in recent weeks; all were involved in a major lawsuit accusing them of creating addictive platforms harmful to children.
RKC’s claims were due to go before a Los Angeles jury next week as part of court proceedings that Meta and YouTube have already lost once.
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC: “The allegations have never stood up and this outcome makes clear that we will not back down from defending ourselves against false claims.”
RKC’s lawyers, Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi, told the BBC that the young plaintiff “entered this process to hold social media companies accountable and make changes to protect young people like her.”
“He did this,” they added.
Lawyers noted concerns about the jury trial taking weeks and said RKC was “ready to close this chapter, focus on his recovery, and participate in therapy as he desires to live a normal life.”
A spokesperson for Meta said it did not receive any payment because it dropped its claims.
RKC had alleged that common social media features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, both of which constantly and automatically show users new content on a platform, lead to compulsive use that has become a form of addiction.
This, he argued, causes anxiety and sleep deprivation, among other problems.
Meta and YouTube faced similar accusations from a young woman during the first hearing.
The jury eventually found them liable for harm to his mental health and was told to pay him $6 million (£4.4 million) in compensation.
For the first time, social media platforms have been held accountable for their impact on users.
Both companies have now appealed this decision.
The Los Angeles Superior Court is hearing hundreds of cases against social media companies involving similar allegations of addiction and harm. A small number of cases were selected to go to trial.
The next hearing will begin in October, according to court records.
There are thousands of lawsuits across the US accusing Meta and other major social media platforms of harming young children.
In May, Meta settled for an undisclosed sum with a school district that sued him for negatively impacting students; such that schools incurred costs related to student welfare. The school district had sought $60 million in damages.
This settlement came shortly after a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading users about the safety of its children-oriented platforms.
