A spokesperson for Meta tried to downplay the significance of the settlement, saying that “trials, dismissals and settlements are all common in the bellwether process, and this litigation is no exception.”
Meta has settled a social media addiction lawsuit, avoiding another bellwether trial that was expected to commence in the coming weeks.
According to The Hill, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Mississippi woman identified in court documents by the initials “KDB.” Attorneys for KDB claim that the 18-year-old’s childhood use of social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram worsened her mental health and either caused or contributed to the development of an eating disorder, suicidal thoughts, and attempts at self-harm.
KDB’s case against Meta and Snap was consolidated alongside related claims filed by another plaintiff, SJ. Their legal teams claim that the social media industry has, by and large, intentionally designed products to be as addictive as possible to young users.
By settling KDB’s claims, Meta will avoid another high-profile trial during which CEO Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify. Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta-owned Instagram, was also expected to appear. Both men have previously testified in social media addiction-related trials.
Emily Jeffcot, a Morgan & Morgan attorney for KDB, said that she and her team 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.”
A spokesperson for Meta, in contrast, tried to downplay the significance of the settlement, saying that “trials, dismissals and settlements are all common in the bellwether process, and this litigation is no exception.”
“We will continue to defend ourselves in court, and we stand by our record,” Meta said. “We’ve spent more than a decade building protections for teens, and our agreement with 52 bipartisan attorneys general goes even further with strict time limits, no access at night, and no notifications during school hours.”
Snap has yet to comment on Meta’s decision to settle. In an earlier statement, a Snap spokesperson maintained that its application is “built differently” from traditional social media; attorneys for the company claim that KDB and SJ’s lawsuits “fundamentally misrepresents the plaintiffs’ experiences” on Snapchat.
Snapchat, the company says, “opens to a camera, not a feed, not a ranking of what other people post or other social comparison metrics.”
“We have built safeguards into the platform, introduced safety tools and educational resources, and we believe the evidence will support that we have put our community first,” Snap said.
Sources
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