Teen drops lawsuit against Meta over Instagram addiction
What's the story
A Florida teen, who had sued Meta for allegedly causing his depression and anxiety through its platforms, has dropped the case just days before it was scheduled to go to trial in Los Angeles. The lawsuit was part of a larger series of high-profile cases against social media companies for allegedly creating addictive products that harm children.
Case details
Lawsuit named 4 defendants
The lawsuit was filed by a 15-year-old boy, referred to as RKC, and originally named four defendants: YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.
YouTube and TikTok settled in June while Snap reached a tentative settlement in the case. Meta was the only remaining defendant.
The terms of these settlements remain confidential.
RKC started using social media at around eight years old and claimed he became addicted to it, leading to sleep loss as well as depression and anxiety.
Withdrawal statement
RKC ready to close chapter, focus on recovery
In light of the successful result of the litigation and his concerns about a lengthy trial, RKC has chosen to withdraw his claims against Meta.
His attorneys released a statement saying, "He's ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life."
A Meta spokesperson confirmed that RKC dropped the claims without any payment.
Company statement
'Claims never held up': Meta
Meta responded to RKC's withdrawal by saying, "The claims never held up."
The company added that this outcome shows they will not shy away from defending themselves against baseless lawsuits.
This comes after Meta and YouTube lost a six-week trial in March at the same Los Angeles court. They were ordered to pay $6 million in damages for deliberately designing addictive products and failing to warn users about potential dangers of their platforms.
Ongoing litigation
Meta ordered to pay $375 million in separate case
In a separate case in March, New Mexico's attorney general sued Meta for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabling harm.
A jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties.
These cases were the first to go to court, with more trials expected from two coordinated groups of over 2,000 plaintiffs against Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap.
This month, Meta appealed the verdict in its Los Angeles court loss.