Meta has received a major legal stroke of good luck after a high-profile social media addiction lawsuit was dropped just days before the trial was due to begin in Los Angeles.
The plaintiff, an anonymous 15-year-old from Florida, dropped the remaining claim against Meta because of the emotional strain of a lengthy trial, the plaintiff’s lawyers said in a statement.
The trial had originally targeted Meta, Google-owned YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, but Meta was the only company not to have settled with the plaintiff. TikTok and YouTube settled last month, while Snap agreed to a preliminary settlement.
Meta said in a statement that it had not proposed a settlement and was planning to defend itself by arguing that the plaintiff had only used Facebook and Instagram for a few minutes per day, with most of the accounts created after lawyers became involved.
Social media addiction trials to continue popping up
Meta is keen to avoid a legal precedent being set by these types of social media addiction trials, while other social media operators appear more willing to settle rather than go to court. It has faced similar cases in New York City and California.
Critics argue Meta remains vulnerable to future addiction claims because its platforms continue to rely on algorithmic feeds and infinite scrolling, despite introducing additional safety controls for minors. The European Union is preparing its own case, which would most likely see the company fined under the Digital Services Act, legislation intended to force major internet companies to do more to remove illegal and harmful content from their platforms.
Several countries have announced bans on social media for children aged 15 and 16, including Australia, France, and the United Kingdom. More governments are considering similar restrictions because of the perceived lack of meaningful changes made by the major social media companies.
Meta was also recently fined $375 million in a New Mexico child exploitation trial, in which it was found to have failed to adequately safeguard children from predators.
How to fix the rot
Even though it may be too late to stop countries from banning social media for teenagers, social app operators appear to be accelerating the rollout of safety and usage-control features.
Meta has introduced stricter privacy and content settings through Instagram Teen Accounts, while making accounts private and restricting messaging by default. Teenagers under 16 need parental approval to remove these protections.
TikTok has introduced a 60-minute daily screen-time limit for users under 18, with parents of younger teenagers able to control longer sessions through a passcode.
YouTube has added take-a-break reminders that appear every hour and turned autoplay off by default. Parents can limit Shorts viewing, while the platform has also reduced recommendations involving body comparisons and social aggression in the Shorts feed.
Snap has introduced similar measures through Family Center, which allows parents to restrict content and see what their child is doing on the app. Users under 16 are also prevented from posting publicly, making the service more of a communication tool than a public discovery platform.
What none of these companies has done is remove the core engagement features, such as infinite scrolling, algorithmic feeds, likes, and push notifications, that social media operators use to keep people on their platforms. Plenty of teenagers are also able to bypass weak age and privacy controls and usage timers, allowing them to use the apps much as an adult would.
While the current fight is focused firmly on children and teenagers accessing social media, more people are beginning to question why these addictive systems are not also being banned or restricted for adult accounts. It is far less likely that a social media addiction case involving a 35-year-old will make its way to court, but growing numbers of people are questioning whether endless scrolling and algorithmically selected content are healthy for any age group.
Other News: EU regulators have preliminarily found Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act over the “addictive design” of Facebook and Instagram.