A look at major lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies over harms to kids
A settlement announced Wednesday between Meta and dozens of states resolves one of its biggest legal fights, but the social media giant is still facing litigation elsewhere over its products’ effects on young people’s mental health
A settlement announced Wednesday between Meta and dozens of states resolves one of its biggest legal fights, but the social media giant is still facing litigation elsewhere over its products' effects on young people's mental health.
The deal cut short a landmark trial in federal court in Oakland, California, where the Instagram and Facebook parent company was fighting claims that it deliberately designed features that get children addicted. The agreement calls for Meta to pay out up to $18 billion and make a changes to how their platforms are operated, with new guardrails for kid safety.
It is one of many courtrooms around the country where Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube have been defending themselves against allegations their platforms have negatively impacted children’s mental health or otherwise hurt them.
Here is a look at some of the biggest cases against social media companies.
The settlement hit during the second week of what was expected to be a six-week trial in Oakland, with testimony from witnesses that would have likely included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
It featured four states as plaintiffs: California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. They were among dozens of states that filed a lawsuit three years ago targeting Meta’s design features and the subsequent harm to children on its platforms. The other 25 states were expecting to have trials later, but the settlement also stops those from going forward.
The states were seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total billions of dollars, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram.
The settlement also resolved a trial that was underway in Tennessee against Meta.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office was a part of the multistate investigation into social media companies that resulted in the 2023 filing against Meta by dozens of states, but opted to file in its own local court.
“We took Meta to trial because Instagram was hurting kids and misleading parents. Now we’re ending the trial with a settlement that imposes unprecedented protections for kids and delivers record-setting money for Tennessee’s Children’s Digital Protection Fund,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said.
Skrmetti, and several other attorneys general, said the settlement addressed Meta's role in an “industrywide problem" and implored other social platforms to follow suit in implementing similar safety measures.
New Mexico was not among the 48 states involved in the settlement because it already won a court case against Meta.
The state argued the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. A jury sided with the state in March, finding there were thousands of violations, each counting separately toward a penalty of $375 million.
In early August, the judge in the case ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of the trial. The judge also outlined new safety measures he ordered as a part of the ruling, including a time limit of 90 hours per month for users under 18, AI chatbot restrictions, and mandatory warnings on the platforms. Meta has said it disagrees with the verdict.
The other state that did not join the settlement was Florida, where the attorney general said the settlement was not tough enough on Meta.
Hundreds of school districts in the U.S. have filed lawsuits against the major social media companies seeking compensation for costs they say they incurred dealing with harms to children’s mental health from social media addiction.
A lawsuit brought by a small, rural Kentucky school district was set to go to trial this summer in federal court in California, but defendants Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube each settled before the trial began.
The Kentucky case was also selected as a bellwether out of 1,200 similar cases. The plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement that their “focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases.”
Earlier this year, a jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a case that centered on social media addiction and claims the companies designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well-being.
The plaintiff, known by her initials KGM, testified at trial that she became addicted to social media as a child and that it exacerbated her mental health struggles. After more than 40 hours of deliberations, a majority of jurors agreed and awarded $6 million in total damages.
It was a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that was randomly selected as a bellwether trial, or a test case for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury, and thus could influence the outcome of similar lawsuits.
TikTok and Snapchat were named as defendants in the lawsuit, but settled before the trial began. Meta and YouTube have each appealed the verdict.
The Los Angeles trial was the first of its kind, but there are thousands of similar lawsuits filed against social media companies by individuals.
Many allege the platforms' design features addicted them to social media, which led to adverse mental health outcomes. But there are also other harms plaintiffs say stemmed from young people's use of social media.
Some lawsuits have been filed by families of children and young adults who died by suicide after problematic use of social media, and families whose kids died from accidental overdoses from drug purchases facilitated by social platforms.
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