Meta’s Social Media Trial Setback: Dropped Lawsuit Fails to Stop Legal Battle

A teenager’s last-minute decision to withdraw his social media addiction lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. before trial has delayed one of the most closely watched cases in the growing legal battle over alleged harm caused by social media platforms.

The withdrawal comes after an early success for plaintiffs in the sprawling litigation in Los Angeles, where a jury awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old woman in the first bellwether trial against Meta.

However, the dismissal of the second bellwether case does not significantly change the broader landscape of the mass tort. Seven more trials remain scheduled in the initial group of cases, while social media companies continue to face more than 3,000 individual lawsuits, including those filed before the California Superior Court in Los Angeles County.

“There are other trials that have been chosen as bellwether trials. We’re not dealing with a blank slate,” said Ari Waldman, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.

The case withdrawn on last Wednesday was filed by a boy identified in court documents as R.K.C., a 15-year-old from Panama City, Florida. According to court records, he began using social media at the age of eight and spent as many as 10 hours a day on various platforms. He alleged that excessive use led to insomnia caused by continuous scrolling.

His claimed injuries included social media addiction, severe depression, suicidal thoughts, binge eating disorder, panic disorder and anxiety.

Lawyers representing R.K.C. said he chose to withdraw the claims against Meta “in light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weekslong trial.”

A Meta spokesperson said the plaintiff had dropped the lawsuit without receiving any payment and reiterated that the company would continue defending what it described as “baseless” claims.

Google’s YouTube and TikTok had previously reached settlements with the teenager and his family, while Snap Inc. said earlier this week that it had reached a tentative agreement.

For Meta, avoiding a second Los Angeles trial this summer removes the immediate risk of another major jury loss and limits further public scrutiny over allegations that its platforms encourage addictive behaviour among young users.

“There are lots of things that can come from these trials that aren’t specifically related to literal precedent,” Waldman said. He is also director of the University of California, Irvine’s Center for Technology and Justice.

As litigation expands, companies such as Meta must increasingly deal with public perceptions that their products are designed to be addictive, Waldman said. This could influence user behaviour and encourage additional regulation by state and local governments.

Appeal Becomes Meta’s Next Legal Battle

The dismissal also gives Meta more room to focus on its appeal against the March jury verdict.

Meta and YouTube filed notices of appeal earlier this month, although formal filings have not yet been uploaded to the state appellate court.

Stuart Benjamin, a professor at Duke University School of Law, said he expects the appeal to focus largely on First Amendment protections and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

The companies are likely to argue that features such as infinite scrolling cannot be separated from the user-generated content they display, which is protected speech and therefore shields platforms from liability.

The court may also examine whether features such as automatic playback and endless scrolling can independently be considered addictive, separate from the content itself, Benjamin said.

Meta could find a more favourable setting before a panel of judges than a jury, Benjamin added, as judges may be more receptive to complex constitutional and legal arguments.

Although this particular case has been removed from its immediate trial schedule, Meta continues to face significant legal challenges.

A federal case in the Northern District of California is scheduled to begin in August, involving a group of state attorneys general seeking potentially trillions of dollars in damages over allegations that social media platforms have harmed young users. Separately, jury selection is underway in Tennessee’s state court case against Meta, with the trial expected to continue for several weeks.

The case is R.K.C. v Meta Platforms Inc., California Superior Court, No. 23STCV31485.

 
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