POLICY

Google settles lawsuit over social media harm

Google LLC-owned YouTube today reached a settlement with a Florida-based minor in a social media addiction case, one of many trials that will take place as social media platforms face growing scrutiny for a mental health crisis in the young.

The suit named four defendants, including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram, Snap Inc’s Snapchat and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok. The other platforms are expected to face trial in July. Speaking for the plaintiff, attorneys John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott said that YouTube’s decision to settle the case “before having to face a jury speaks for itself.”

“This matter has been amicably resolved and our focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise,” Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement to media.

The teenager, named only as R.K.C., is one of around 1,000 similar cases that will be overseen by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. The settlement today could be bad news for the companies involved which may find themselves having to settle many times over. While the terms of the settlement were not made public, it likely came at a substantial cost.

In the first of the trials, a 20-year-old woman from California named as K.G.M. sued Meta, YouTube, Snap and TikTok, with latter two firms settling before the other two companies were found liable to have caused negative health impacts with their addictive products. The woman was awarded $6 million in total from both companies, with Meta paying $4.2 million.

In both cases, the teenagers claimed their attention had been hijacked by features such as autoplay, infinite scroll, and recommendation algorithms designed to keep users glued to their screens. They said the platforms contributed to anxiety, sleep deprivation, and other harms, including body dysmorphia.

“The tide of the law and public opinion are shifting,” the attorneys warned following the settlement. With school districts, municipalities, and states lining up to sue many of the same companies, the pressure on the industry is intensifying. Social media firms may soon find themselves forced to make profound changes to the products that made them so successful.

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