Teen drops social media addiction lawsuit against Meta

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A teenager, known in court documents as R.K.C., dropped his lawsuit against Meta on Wednesday over claims the tech giant and other social media companies caused a crisis of depression, anxiety and addiction among underage users.

The unnamed 15-year-old boy’s civil suit — set to go to trial Monday in downtown Los Angeles — was the second bellwether case in a mass tort that includes nearly 2,500 plaintiffs. R.K.C. had already reached confidential settlements with Google, TikTok and Snap for undisclosed amounts. The move effectively ends the plaintiff’s civil action, without Meta having to pay anything.

“R.K.C. came into this process wanting to hold social media companies accountable and push for changes to protect young people like himself,” plaintiff’s attorney Emily Jeffcott said in a written statement. “He did that. In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weekslong trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta. 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 said in a statement, “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”

The first bellwether trial, held earlier this year, ended with an LA jury awarding a 20-year-old woman, identified as Kaley G.M., $6 million, with 70% to be paid by Meta and 30% by Google. Both companies have filed appeals. TikTok and Snap had already reached confidential settlements with Kaley in the weeks before her trial.

The next bellwether trial is scheduled for October, and six other cases are in various stages of preparation. Their judgments could serve as reference points to help hammer out a global settlement, resolving the remaining 2,500 or so individual cases against the tech firms. Such a settlement could see the companies pay out billions of dollars, and even lead to major reforms in the industry.

Unlike Kaley, R.K.C. is still a minor, and still enrolled in high school in Florida. Whereas Kaley’s trial focused heavily on Instagram’s so-called “beauty filters,” this one was expected to focus more on the “autoplay” and “infinite scroll” features. Jeffcott was set to take over the role of lead plaintiff’s attorney, stepping into the rather big shoes of superstar attorney Mark Lanier, who charmed the jury in Kaley’s trial with his use of props and hand-drawn “road maps.”

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