Lawsuits target social media platforms over youth mental health harms
Consolidated lawsuits in US courts allege that Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube knowingly designed their platforms to addict young users, resulting in reported mental health harms including depression, anxiety, and self-harm. The first bellwether trial is scheduled for late January in Los Angeles Superior Court.
What happened
Two consolidated lawsuits accuse Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube of knowingly designing their platforms to addict users. The litigation has been brewing for more than three years and has overcome motions to dismiss based on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
The vast majority of cases have been folded into two multijurisdictional proceedings—one in state court and one in federal court—to streamline pretrial discovery. The first bellwether trial is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court in late January and involves a 19-year-old woman from Chico, California, who claims she has been addicted to social media for more than a decade.
Reported impact
Plaintiffs allege that nonstop use of the platforms has caused youth depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, self-harm and even suicide. The lawsuits claim these companies are targeting vulnerable populations—children—for profit.
Index analysis
Thousands of plaintiffs' complaints, millions of pages of internal documents and transcripts of countless hours of depositions are about to land in US courtrooms. If successful, these cases could result in multibillion-dollar settlements akin to tobacco and opioid litigation and change the way minors interact with social media.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.