longbridgelongbridge
  • Platform Features
    Features
    Investment ProductsPrivate Wealth ManagementTrading ToolsMarket Data ServicesAnalysis ToolsNews ServicesFor Developers
    Account Types
    For IndividualsFor Institutions
  • Café
longbridge
© 2026 Longbridge|Terms of ServicePrivacy Policy

SNAP

SNAP
5.3102.21%( -0.120 )

LongbridgeAI

Social media addiction lawsuit against Meta is dropped

TechCrunch
Jul 22, 2026 at 08:40 PM
LongbridgeAII'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.

Meta has dropped a social media addiction lawsuit filed by a Florida teenager, following a tentative settlement between the plaintiff and Snap. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case against Meta without receiving payment. This bellwether trial, which could have impacted app design features like infinite scroll, was set to begin in Los Angeles. Other tech giants TikTok and YouTube had previously settled similar claims. Meta stated this outcome demonstrates its commitment to defending against baseless lawsuits.

A day after Snap tentatively settled with the plaintiff in a social media addiction lawsuit, leaving Meta as the only remaining defendant, the case has been dropped. In a statement, Meta said the plaintiff chose to drop his case against Meta without receiving any payment.

TikTok and Google’s YouTube had previously reached settlement agreements with the plaintiff. (Snap on Tuesday confirmed a tentative agreement had been reached.)

The bellwether jury trial had been set to begin next week in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles.

The plaintiff, a Florida teenager known by the initials “R.K.C.,” had sued the social media companies for creating addictive platforms. It was one of thousands of similar lawsuits from teens, schools, and state attorneys general that had accused the big tech companies of knowingly creating addictive platforms.

The precedent that would have been set by this lawsuit and others could have impacted how the companies build their apps, known for features that keep people engaged, like the infinite scroll and their continual buzz of notifications.

The plaintiff’s decision to drop the case follows Meta’s loss in a New Mexico case earlier this year, which marked its first courtroom defeat over social media harms. Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties after the company was found to have misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangered children.

In March, a Los Angeles jury also handed both Meta and Google another defeat, awarding the defendant in that case some $6 million in damages.

Meta had been prepared to argue that the plaintiff in this case had allegedly only used Facebook and Instagram accounts for minutes per day on average, and was planning to claim that most of his accounts had been created after hiring a lawyer.

In its statement, Meta said that, “this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”

Login to unlock1,449characters for free

Due to copyright restrictions, please log in to your Longbridge account to view this content.
Thank you for your understanding and support of licensed content.

Related Stocks

Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms

USMETA

+6.55%

Snap

Snap

USSNAP

-2.21%

Alphabet

Alphabet

USGOOGL